LAHORE   -   Punjab Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare Khawaja Imran Nazir has announced that catheterization laboratories (Cath labs) for heart patients will soon be established in District Headquarters (DHQ) hospitals across the province. He made this statement while presiding over a meeting at the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the Department of Primary and Secondary Healthcare on Thursday. The meeting focused on the status of the DHQ Hospital Jhelum. During the meeting, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Jhelum, Syeda Ramla Ali, provided a detailed briefing on the operations of the hospital, noting that the issue of pending salaries for the janitorial and security staff had been resolved following instructions from the Provincial Health Minister. On this occasion, the minister confirmed that all companies, except for one, had paid three months’ salaries to the janitorial staff. The remaining company’s owner is expected to be summoned to settle the outstanding payments immediately. Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir warned that if the pending salaries are not cleared within the next 3-4 days, strict action will be taken against the defaulting company. He further assured that the shortage of doctors at DHQ Hospital Jhelum will be managed through locum services. Additionally, the minister directed that the patient referral record for the past three months should be audited by a third party to ensure transparency and efficiency in hospital operations. The DC Jhelum also informed the attendees that medicines at the DHQ Hospital are being provided free of cost. The meeting was attended by Project Director PMU Adeel Tasawur and representatives from the Hepatitis Control Program.