A forgery scandal continues to hound Pakistan’s leading Christian hospital, further troubling the missionary institution that faces a severe financial crisis amid scandals and administrative bungling.
The latest scandal in the United Christian Hospital in Lahore re-surfaced on Jan. 15, when activist Saleem Sylvester filed a court case seeking the arrest and prosecution of the hospital’s former administrator, Imran Titus Bhatti, for forgery.
Since March 2024, Bhatti has been facing allegations of using a fake graduation degree in arts when Sylvester filed a police complaint seeking an investigation.
Bhatti resigned from the job, citing personal inconveniences, in October 2024, a decade after he took it up, allegedly using forged graduation certificates.
The university that supposedly issued the graduation certificate to Bhatti also reportedly disowned it, confirming the forgery.
Bhatti secured pre-arrest bail until Jan. 28 from a Lahore court. He declined to comment on the issue, saying it was subjudice.
Sylvester told UCA News on Jan. 18 that he wants Bhatti to be tried and punished to deter others who perpetrate and support corruption and mismanagement in Christian institutions.
The activist, a member of the Friends of United Christian Hospital, expressed dismay over the inordinate delay in prosecuting Bhatti, despite a Lahore court ordering an inquiry and legal action five months ago in September.
‘A rundown mission’
Sylvester said police delayed filing charges against Bhatti in court because of the influence of a hospital board member who is also politically connected as a member of the provincial legislative assembly in Punjab.
“There is no hope for a revival of the hospital under these unconstitutional boards,” he asserts.
He said his group alone had donated 17.8 million rupees (US$64,125) to revive the hospital “to its past glory,” but “endemic corruption eats up” the resources.
A walk through the winding corridors of the hospital that British Protestant missionaries started in 1948 shows the sorry state of the once-leading healthcare facility in the city.
Damaged furniture and equipment lie scattered in two non-functional operation theaters, their ceilings stripped bare of plastering boards.
Empty shelves in the anesthesia department are littered with discarded bottles and boxes.
The surgical emergency department lacks cardiac monitors or crash carts and operates with just three wheelchairs and a single, barely usable stretcher.
A school that trained nurses, once a significant contribution from the hospital, has been defunct for over a decade.
‘No money to pay salaries’
Akash Mathew, the hospital’s medical director, admitted the financial crisis. “We can only pay 60 percent of staff salaries. We are in crisis as expenses continue to exceed income,” he told UCA News.
Mathew declined to comment on the scandal but said: “The board can explain the reasons for Bhatti’s hiring. The concerns were raised at the last board meeting in October.”
Bhatti is a relative of the Retired Bishop Samuel Azariah of the Protestant Church of Pakistan, the former hospital board chairman.
An official, requesting anonymity, said the hospital’s pending gas bill is a staggering 10 million rupees (US$35,947), and its pending electricity bill is 6 million rupees.
Shakeel Chughtai, a male nurse who joined the hospital in 2011, expressed concern about maintaining his family with his work.
“Payment of salaries began to be delayed since 2015,” said the 41-year-old father of two, who received only 5,000 rupees this Christmas instead of his usual monthly salary of 37,000 rupees.
The now 250-bed hospital began when missionaries started attending to the hundreds of injured and sick migrants arriving in Lahore after they fled India during the partition of the subcontinent as India and Pakistan in 1947.
By 1948, it had become a hospital on land donated by the Presbyterian Church. Methodist and Anglican Churches funded the construction of its buildings.
Local Christians took over management in the 1980s after disputes led to the forming of a parallel board in 1975. However, allegations of mismanagement, corruption, and nepotism have plagued the institution ever since.
Series of scandals
In 2006, the hospital made headlines when a former board chairman was accused of selling 176 square meters of hospital land, reportedly for about US$330,300.
Recent allegations circulating on social media include appointing unqualified staff with fake degrees, encroachments, and selling land and medical equipment for personal profits.
Friends of UCH alleged that newly installed equipment, including air conditioners and fire extinguishers, had disappeared during Bhatti’s tenure.
In 2020, two volunteer organizations—UCH Lovers and Friends of UCH—tried to restore the hospital, which they say revealed the depth of its problems.
“Funding isn’t the issue. Robbers reign supreme at all levels, from the administration to the board,” said Riaz Naveed, president of UCH Lovers, who donated 12.5 million rupees to the hospital.
“Only a functioning facility can prevent the looming government takeover. Sincere management with a clear vision and a proper plan is needed for a true revival,” Naveed said.
Father James Channan, director of the Dominican Peace Center in Lahore, inaugurated UCH’s 16-bed emergency department in 2021.
The hospital is “a symbol of Christianity in our city and a great witness of Christ and His mission to provide compassionate healing. Christian hospitals must be upgraded with modern machinery and qualified staff to stay relevant,” he said.
More than 50 Christian missionary hospitals provide healthcare services to the poor in Pakistan. These include nine Catholic hospitals in Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore, Faisalabad and Islamabad-Rawalpindi dioceses.
