Photo via Dawn

Pims gets new executive director and joint executive director, notifications raise eyebrows

Read the original at Dawn ↗
Cite

Junaidi, I. (2026, October 6). Pims gets new executive director and joint executive director, notifications raise eyebrows. Dawn. https://www.dawn.com/news/2035001/pims-gets-new-executive-director-and-joint-executive-director-notifications-raise-eyebrows

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Dawn · collected 2026-10-06 · by Ikram Junaidi

Quick Summary

Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad received new leadership after six weeks following a fire incident that resulted in the deaths of 14 newborns and one additional fatality. The Prime Minister appointed Prof Dr Tanwir Khaliq as interim executive director, despite him having retired nearly six years ago, and assigned Brig Retd Azmat Hayat, a contractual employee at Pims for over a year, as joint executive director. These decisions have raised concerns among hospital staff about the capability of these appointees to handle their roles effectively.
Written by AI on 2026-10-06, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, recently appointed a new Executive Director and Joint Executive Director after a fire incident that killed 14 newborn babies on August 26. The appointments raised eyebrows due to the unusual circumstances: one appointee has passed his retirement age, while the other is a contractual employee who has worked at Pims for over a year. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had earlier suspended eight officers following the fire incident and appointed Dr Mohammad Salman as interim ED; however, new notifications now assign these roles to Prof Dr Tanwir Khaliq (Executive Director) and Prof Dr Azmat Hayat (Joint Executive Director). The notifications follow directives from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Written for “Pims Executive Changes” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Pims Executive Changes
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
7%
1 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
72/100
Dawn's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-06 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Dawn · 2602 article(s) · 3 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ikram Junaidi
36 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “This is the second case reported from Khyber District this year — and the sixth from KP province — underscoring that no child will be safe from polio until all children are consistently vaccinated and protected across the country,” the statement read.
🔮 So we will contest without going into what kind of election symbols are allotted to our candidates,” he said.
🔮 A majority of PTI lawmakers on Tuesday opposed further efforts to negotiate with the powers that be, arguing that the latter had already secured what they wanted, and that pursuing further talks would “only show weakness”.
2026-10-28 · assertive framing · PTI asked to look inward; warned against further talks
🔮 Officials told the meeting that Drap was reviewing the existing drug-pricing formula and examining provisions that could hinder the determination of fair and accurate prices.
🔮 Under the new rules, male police employees will ordinarily be entitled to 10 days’ marriage leave, while female personnel will be allowed one month, subject to approval by the competent authority. “
🔮 “Barrister Gohar threatened her that she may be expelled from the group.
2026-10-23 · assertive framing · Fissures take a toll on PTI internal discipline
🔮 Four nationwide polio campaigns have already been conducted in 2026, protecting more than 45 million children multiple times, besides targeted oral and injectable vaccination activities in high-risk areas. The next subnational campaign is scheduled for Nov 2-8 and will target nearly 24m children in 97 districts, including all districts of Karachi, in synchronisation with Afghanistan.
🔮 As many as 16 members of the committee got an opportunity to speak, and the remaining will speak in upcoming sessions,” he said.
2026-10-19 · assertive framing · Recriminations grow over failure of PTI protest plan
🔮 It announced that it would challenge governor’s rule through the courts, assemblies and public forums.
🔮 PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said the government could not simultaneously call for negotiations and “allow its cronies” to appear before the media every day to “spew venom” against PTI leadership and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.
2026-10-09 · mixed framing · Govt, PTI trade barbs over KP governance issues
Also by Ikram Junaidi
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 36 articles by Ikram Junaidi →

Topics

Dawn ISLAMABAD NIH Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Pims

Subjects

Pims ORG · 7× ISLAMABAD GPE · 5× Dawn ORG · 2× Mohammad Salman PERSON · 2× NIH ORG · 2× Tanwir Khaliq PERSON · 2× Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences ORG · 1× Shehbaz Sharif PERSON · 1× the National Institute of Health ORG · 1× the Prime Minister’s Office ORG · 1×

Narrative

The second notification states: “With the approval of the competent authority i.e. Secretary, Ministry of Health, Prof. Dr. Brig. (Retd.) Azmat Hayat, Professor of Electrophysiology, Pims, Islamabad is hereby assigned additional charge of the post of Joint Executive Director (BPS-20/Medical), Pims, in addition to his own duties for a period of three months or till the availability of regular incumbent of the post, whichever is earlier.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-06
🔮 “The officer will be entitled to draw additional remuneration as admissible under the rules.

Claims (15 extracted, 1 hedged)

After almost six weeks having passed since the fire incident, the capital’s largest hospital Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) got a new executive director (ED) and joint executive director (JED). asserted
hospital → pass → director
However, the notifications raised eye brows as the charge of ED has been given to an officer who has passed his age of superannuation while the JED’s charge has been given to a contractual employee who has been working in the hospital for the last over one year. asserted
who → raise → year
It is worth mentioning here that after the fire incident at Pims in which 14 newborn babies had died on August 26 and later the 15th baby also passed away, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had taken notice and suspended as many as eight officers. asserted
Sharif → mention → officers
The charge of ED was given to Dr Mohammad Salman who is also head of the National Institute of Health (NIH). asserted
who → give → Health
According to two notifications, available with Dawn, in pursuance of the directives of the Prime Minister’s Office, Prof Dr Tanwir Khaliq currently posted as vice chancellor, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU), Islamabad has been assigned the additional charge of the post of executive director (BPS-21), Pims, in addition to his own duties for a period of three months or till the availability of regular incumbent of the post, whichever is earlier. uncertain
whichever → accord → post
“The officer will be entitled to draw additional remuneration as admissible under the rules. asserted
officer → entitle → rules
Dr. Mohammad Salman presently working as executive director (BPS-21), Pims, Islamabad is hereby repatriated to his parent department and directed to resume his duties on same positions in NIH, Islamabad with immediate effect,” the notification reads. asserted
notification → work → effect
The second notification states: “With the approval of the competent authority i.e. Secretary, Ministry of Health, Prof. Dr. Brig. (Retd.) Azmat Hayat, Professor of Electrophysiology, Pims, Islamabad is hereby assigned additional charge of the post of Joint Executive Director (BPS-20/Medical), Pims, in addition to his own duties for a period of three months or till the availability of regular incumbent of the post, whichever is earlier. asserted
whichever → state → post
The officer will be entitled to draw additional remuneration as admissible under the rules.” asserted
officer → entitle → rules
A senior doctor of the hospital, wishing not to be named, said Dr Tanwir Khaliq had retired almost six years ago. asserted
Khaliq → wish → hospital
“Now additional charge of the hospital head has been given to him. asserted
charge → give → him
We (doctors) cannot understand that how he will handle two jobs,” he asked. asserted
he → understand → jobs
“Prof. Dr. Brig. (Retd.) Azmat Hayat was working in Pims as a contractual employee in MP-II scale. asserted
Hayat → work → scale
Now he has got the position of JED in the hospital. asserted
he → get → hospital
I don’t remember if a contractual employee got such position in the past,” he said. asserted
he → remember → past
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support