LAHORE: Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre has planned to construct a new clinical tower that would include a new specialised bone marrow transplant unit. According to the management of the hospital, this new clinical tower would represent the largest expansion the hospital has witnessed since its inauguration, nearly 22 years ago. In addition to augmenting all its existing clinical services, the clinical tower would house a new specialised bone marrow transplant unit, new imaging modalities, latest in-radiation equipment, a new emergency assessment room, and would also have two floors dedicated to pathology services, providing support not only for the hospital, but also for the growing network of Shaukat Khanum Laboratory Collection Centres across Pakistan. This expansion would greatly enhance the hospital’s capacity to accept and to treat more cancer patients as well as provide greater opportunities for research, training and education of healthcare professionals. The management hopes to start the construction in the summer of 2017. The management claimed that the new clinical tower would be equipped with state-of-the-art technology and would be built according to the latest international healthcare standards, adding that each year, SKMCH&RC has recorded an increase in activity in all clinical areas. “The hospital has always faced capacity constraints; however, we always strive to induct the largest possible number of indigent patients that it can effectively treat to the very high standards it has set itself. We continue to raise the bar for quality patient care in Pakistan, never forgetting that the core principles on which we work are those of quality and equality, trying to ensure that we provide the best possible cancer care to all our patients, irrespective of their ability to pay. However, creation of additional physical space at the hospital in Lahore has become imperative to meet our ever-increasing workloads,” it added. This new project represents an excellent opportunity for supporters of SKMCH&RC to dedicate rooms and/or equipment in the memory of a loved one. Management of the Shaukat Khanum Hospital also appealed the masses to help them cement the bricks by pledging their donation till the completion of the project to enable the hospital treat more indigent cancer patients.