Chairman’s Message
My father, Sheikh Muhammad Saleem, was born in 1938 in Chiniot to a middle-class business family. The only child of his parents, he was the first in his family to go to college and graduated in 1963 from the newly set up IBA in Karachi. After living and working in Karachi for 45 years, he eventually shifted to Lahore. At the age of 73, he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and passed away after a year in 2012.
A deeply compassionate person, Abbu believed the only thing that mattered was a person’s heart. He would go out of this way to help anyone in need, monetary or otherwise, irrespective of the person’s status in society. He helped countless people silently and sincerely, nobody was turned back empty handed. He built a free school and hospital in Bhai Pheru to help the local community find access to basic education and healthcare. He lit up the lives of the people nearest and dearest to him, from his children to his grandchildren and his friends. Whatever I know about compassion and generosity, I learnt from him.
This hospital is a testament to a life led selflessly and in service to others. Our vision is to strive to make a world-class healthcare facility available to the public, irrespective of their ability to pay. Based on a not-for-profit model,
the hospital will use donations and income from paying patients, to subsidize the non-paying patients and for the upkeep of the facility. A general hospital, SMH is the amongst the few hospitals in the country to offer services ranging from cardiology to radiation oncology under one roof. ’Committed to Care’, SMH is a patient centric hospital, where the quality of medical care and patient experience will be valued above everything else.
I wish to thank my family and donors who have contributed generously towards this hospital and hope that we continue to stand together in striving to make this world-class.
Shahzad Saleem
Chairman