Holy Family Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, was founded in 1948 by the Medical Mission Sisters, a Roman Catholic religious order for women based in Philadelphia, USA.[1] This was at a time when very few health care facilities existed in Pakistan.[2]
The founder of the Medical Mission Sisters, Doctor Anna Dengel arrived in 1920 in Rawalpindi to work as a mission doctor at the 16-bed St. Catherine's Hospital.[3]
Three of these Sisters have been together since 1967 at Holy Family Hospital. Sister Elona Stanchak is Administrator of the 225-bed hospital; Sister Celine Bernier is Directress of Nursing Services; and Sister Helen Marie McGrath teaches at the hospital's nursing school. In 2009 they left Pakistan to return to the US.
What will happen to the Holy Family Hospital in times to come is an important question; the institution is a national heritage and a prized possession of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi right in the heart of a bustling city and must be governed and administered professionally.[4] Currently Dr Alfred Charles is officiating as Acting Administrator.
Nearly 100 students are enrolled at the Holy Family Hospital nursing school. The students spend 3 years in basic nursing, and a 4th year in midwifery training.
The hospital also has a large facility, the Holy Family Hospital auditorium, which is used for events such as the launch of Agahi, the first Urdu-language Catholic weekly in Pakistan launched in November 2006.[5]
In September 2004 the Health department had identified some private hospitals, including Holy Family Hospital, as having the facilities where trauma patients could be treated. This is recognition of the high quality care provided and the important role played by the hospital over the years.[6]
In 2009 it was the only Catholic hospital in Karachi.[7]