About Us
Our History
South City Hospital (Pvt.) Limited is a privately owned facility that covers a wide spectrum of specialties, to provide top-grade medical care in a comfortable and luxurious environment.
In 2004, the owners of a private hospital in the upscale locality of Clifton in Karachi announced its demolition to make way for a shopping center and hotel complex. The destruction of a functional hospital created a vacuum that motivated a group of Pakistan’s top medical professionals to form a consortium and acquire an existing hospital in Clifton.
In addition to the original consortium, SCH has since attracted some of Pakistan’s top doctors and surgeons. It is a top-grade facility that rivals the finest hospitals in Europe and the US.
After the acquisition, the original facility was completely renovated and the existing structure was expanded to twice its size. Construction for the new SCH facility started in March 2005 and Phase 1 became operational in December 2006. Phase 2 was completed in March 2008. The facility covers an area of 3,250 square yards and has a total capacity of 152 beds. It houses a pharmacy, laboratory, fully equipped radiology unit, six state-of-the-art operating theatres, labor and delivery suites, and a cardiac unit.
Our vision at South City Hospital is to be the trusted leader in caring for people and advancing health. Truly living that vision means that we want to provide you with information about the quality of care provided by our healthcare facilities so you can make the best decision for yourself and your family. This website will initially focus on quality information for inpatient hospital care but will expand to include other services over time.
South City Hospital is committed to a patient-first philosophy that combines care, compassion, and clinical excellence with a focus on customer service – in short, quality health care.
Our Mission, Goals and Vision
Our mission is to provide a safe, cost-effective, and caring environment, supported by evidence-based practice and professional development in collaboration with other healthcare providers.
When constructing the SCH facility, one of the main focuses of the sponsors was the provision of healthcare in a relaxing and pleasant environment; one that doesn’t feel like a hospital. Therefore SCH pays special attention to architecture and ambiance in the same manner that a hotel does. Unlike most hospitals in Pakistan that are characterized by sterile, impersonal interiors and poorly attired staff, SCH attempts to be more than just a hospital.
Catering to a market that appreciates and expects personalized service, the facility focuses on details that go beyond medical care. The entrance is hidden by trees and running water, both serving not only to calm the nerves but also to muffle the sound of traffic. Inside, a rich red is used on the walls and furniture—quite unlike a medical facility. Simple and understated details like recessed lighting or a colorful column for the children’s area add a personal touch to the surroundings. Special care has been taken to allow natural light through large windows and courtyards. Four floors of the hospital look down into this courtyard which functions as the hospital cafeteria. Finishing materials generally used are robust and easy to maintain; such as bacteria-repellant carpets in corridors, used for a sound reduction since most other hospital corridors are noisy.
Patient rooms are clean and efficiently planned with a dining table, a writing table, and a day bed which also doubles as a sofa bed. Most of all, patient windows overlook green spaces. The level of accommodation is flexible and designed to meet various budgets.
All floors have fire exits and are complete with safety equipment. Exterior and multi-floor security is controlled in‐house. SCH has its laundry, gourmet restaurant plus gift and flower shops. It operates its own CSSD, housekeeping, and ambulance services.
A Note From Our CEO
South City Hospital’s success is based on its formula of bringing together a consortium of medical specialists and providing medical care the way it should be.
Our practices are standardized, whether it is a procedure in the operating room or nursing care. Our team is credentialed and our staff is trained according to international SOPs and guidelines to ensure that the system works along those benchmarks of quality instead of us creating our own.
We endeavor to provide a range of billing options for patients which range from low cost to VIP.
We want our patients to be well-informed, be provided personalized care, and have an environment that makes their stay with us pleasant.
We are especially proud of our varied Critical Care Units – the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Step-Down Unit, the High Dependency Unit, the Surgical ICU, and the Medical ICU. We believe that critical care is a grey area in our country and we want to expand and elaborate on it.
SCH is also prioritizing high-quality nursing care and uniquely provides one-to-one nursing, especially in our critical care areas. Other hospitals maintain a standard of 1:4 or one nurses for four patients. At SCH we are investing in the training of our nurses. There is a shortage of nurses globally, not just in Pakistan, and we believe that if we provide this profession the respect it deserves and the proper profile, we all benefit in the long run because actual patient care is delivered by the nurses.
In addition to these areas of focus, we believe that cost-effective and safe care for patients is South City Hospital’s core strength. It achieves this by focusing on ensuring that patients and their families are treated in a clean environment where international safety standards are adhered to.
Eighty to ninety years ago, the hospitals set up by the missionaries set a standard of hygiene with their fly-screening, high ceilings for ventilation, and strict rules. Their architecture was patient-friendly. Their standard of cleanliness was high even though today we have far superior cleaning materials. Keeping this tradition in mind, SCH became the first hospital in Pakistan to be built along the guidelines of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
At present, SCH has a large turnover of advanced laparoscopic procedures in General and Gynaecological surgeries. It is our vision to establish SCH as a center for training in advanced laparoscopic surgery.
Dr. Saadia Rasul Virk
Our Board of Directors
Dr. Saadia Virk
Dr. Saadia Virk is CEO and Chairperson of South City Hospital, with international training from London hospitals and specialized certifications in laparoscopic surgery from Europe and the US. She specializes in IVF and fertility treatments, gynecological oncology, high-risk obstetrics, and advanced minimally invasive surgery, offering comprehensive women’s healthcare from infertility management and cancer surgeries to high-risk pregnancy care and diagnostic procedures, leading a dedicated team that provides personalized one-to-one patient care.
Dr. Mumtaz Maher
Dr. Mumtaz Maher is Chief of Surgery at South City Hospital and the pioneer of laparoscopic surgery in Pakistan, having performed the country’s first laparoscopic cholecystectomy in 1991. With FRCS from Edinburgh and extensive UK training, he specializes in bariatric surgery, complex pancreatic procedures including Whipple’s operations, and advanced laparoscopic techniques for digestive, colorectal, and obesity-related conditions, while also being a founding member of multiple surgical societies and recognized leader in surgical education.
Dr. Muhammad Umar
Dr. Muhammad Umar is a highly accomplished orthopedic surgeon who graduated from King Edward Medical College and completed his training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, with fellowship training in joint replacement at Cornell University. After serving as consultant and clinical faculty at University of Rochester, he returned to Pakistan in 1990 to join Aga Khan University where he pioneered arthroscopic surgery and joint replacement work, founded the orthopedic residency program, and served as President of the Pakistan Orthopaedic Association. As founder and surgeon-in-chief of the Institute of Orthopedics at South City Hospital, he specializes in total joint replacement and revision surgery.
Dr. Javaid Rizvi
Prof. Rizvi is a distinguished gynecologist and obstetrician who graduated from Dow Medical College and completed postgraduate training at Oxford, Cambridge, and St. Mary’s Hospital London, becoming the first Pakistani consultant gynecologist in the UK with fellowships from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and American College of Surgeons. With over 60 published scientific papers and 16 textbook contributions, he has received numerous international honors including the Sitara-e-Imtiaz from the President of Pakistan, Commonwealth Academic Fellowship, and visiting professorships across multiple countries. He serves as a director and board member at South City Hospital.
Dr. Razi Yousuf
Dr. Razi is an accomplished healthcare management professional who graduated from Dow Medical College in 1995 and earned his Masters in Hospital Management from University of Leeds, UK. With extensive international experience across the UK, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia, he has held senior management positions at prestigious institutions including Aga Khan University Hospital, St. George’s Healthcare Trust London, and Changi General Hospital Singapore, where he developed the acclaimed SARS surveillance system. As a trained quality auditor with certifications from Joint Commission International Chicago and patient safety training from Harvard University, he has facilitated JCI accreditation for over 15 hospitals across Asia Pacific, Middle East, and South Asia, and served as CEO of South City Hospital while maintaining his international healthcare consultancy practice.
Dr. Noshad Sheikh
Prof. Dr. Noshad Shaikh is experienced General Surgeon with special interest in endoscopic urology. He achieved his post-graduation degrees, MS (Master of Surgery) from Karachi University & FCPS from College of Physician & Surgeon Pakistan. As Professor of Surgery since 1998 he Headed department of Urology at People’s Medical University. Prof. Dr. Noshad Shaikh Retired as meritorious professor & Head of department of Surgery, Dow University of Health Sciences Karachi. Prof. Dr. Noshad has fifty research publications on his credit and also awarded civil award “Sitara-e-Imtiaz” by president of Pakistan on his outstanding performance in his field.
Mr. Muhammad H. Zakaria
Mr. Mohamed H. Zakaria brings over 48 years of experience in financial and industrial leadership, having held senior management and C-level positions across the Middle East. His expertise spans trading, structured financing, corporate finance, real estate, and global asset management. He currently serves as a Director and Board Member of SIMA USA, Asan Ghar Finance Co., South City Hospital Group, and South City Hospital Education Hub. Previously, he has held key roles including CEO of Saudi Steel Profile Co., Chairman of United Metal Industries, and Founding Member of IIB Bank Bahrain.
Our Administration
Chief Operating Officer
Humair A. Noor graduated from the University of Karachi and started his professional career in the hotel industry in 2003. He received professional training on productivity, management operations reviews, budgeting, and brand standard audits. He received his “Cleanliness Certification” in 2007 from ECOLAB, Germany. He has worked in different five-star properties across the country in the position of executive housekeeper. During his time with hotels, he was extensively involved in projects and the opening of new hotels. He has also served in the capacity of deputy director of sales. He joined South City Hospital in 2011 as a housekeeping manager and was promoted to general manager of operations in 2013.
During his position as General Manager of Operations, he was in charge of all the support administrative departments of the Hospital and played a vital role in the expansion/renovation and upkeep of South City Hospital. During the Covid pandemic, Mr. Humair and his team took the challenge of making a Covid 19 isolation ward and with his team working 24/7 they were able to deliver state of an art Covid 19 ward unmatched by any others in the city in record time.
In 2019 he again rolled his sleeves up and took the challenge of completely installing a modern and 5-star standard kitchen for patient diet and other food and beverage outlets of the hospital. The kitchen is an iso2200-certified kitchen and meets the highest standards in the industry.
His tremendous leadership abilities, absolute grip on operational methodologies, vital legislative knowledge, and massive public relations abilities earned him in 2023 to be promoted as Chief Operating Officer( COO).
Mr. Humair Noor
Medical Director
Dr. Munir joined us in November 2012 and has over two decades of experience in the Critical Care Specialty, Risk Management, and 14 years in Hospital Administration. His most recent appointment was as Medical Director at the Umm Al Qura Holy Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
As a trainee at the Dow University Of Health Sciences, he established the first High-Dependency-Unit in any surgical unit at a public sector hospital, where patients of major surgical procedures such as Whipple’s procedure, Esophagectomy, Fire arm injury cases with Hemo-Pneumothorax and Visceral injuries, and Critical ill patients, were treated after discharge from Surgical Intensive care Unit DUHS, He participated in the establishment of the first Cardiac Surgery Unit at the provincial level in Sindh in the public sector, (when the National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease was the only cardiac tertiary care hospital in Sindh). He joined the Intensive Care Department at the Orthopedic & Medical Institute, Karachi, in 1992 and left for Umm Al Qura Holy Makkah after a decade.
His dedicated contribution to health care continued in Makkah, where millions of pilgrims visit every year for the Hajj. He was certified by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine, California.
He participated in the Makkah Region Quality Plan which was accredited by the Joint Commission International, the global authority on healthcare quality management. Guidelines were promulgated to cater to local needs and meet international standards to thwart and handle health risks such as the Swine Flu or the H1N1 Virus, especially in the context of a large number of pilgrims. This work ranged from patient safety from medical errors to disaster management and factored in diverse situations such as in-hospital narcotics control and organ donation and transplants.
Dr. Munir has supervised several key changes to SCH since he joined. Here are a few particular notes:
Health Care Commission Accreditation. Dr Munir led the Quality Assurance Programme managed the plan created the CQI team and achieved the most prestigious accomplishment of Sindh Health Care Commission Quality Certification and a place in selected few hospitals of Pakistan for the Medical Tourism Plan of the Government of Pakistan.
Infrastructure: In our Emergency Department, ventilators were installed to support Critical Care Services and ensure severe patients receive the requisite high degree of critical support from admission. We also now have dedicated stroke services.
We have, in 2023 12-Beds MICU, Beds CCU, 8-Beds SICU, 8-Beds Incubator NICU and hemodialysis unit, and 10-Beds High Dependency Unit to provide advanced life support and Critical Care with the latest Ventilators, Portable adult, neonatal & pediatric ventilators, Bubble, BiPAP, CPAP, Invasive Monitoring and Advanced Support systems of Therapeutic and Diagnostics such as VIR, TACE, PCI, NVI having experienced, highly skilled Consultants and staff.
Respiratory therapists: Dr. Munir Maher’s vision grabbed the opportunity and enabled South City Hospital to become the first private healthcare facility in Pakistan to create a job description and provide jobs to the newly graduated first-ever batch of Respiratory Therapists from Dow University of Health Sciences.
Dr. Munir Ahmed Mahar
Medical Director
MB; SCHCS
Email
medical.director@southcityhospital.org
Phones:
(+9221) 358 623 01 to 03
(+9221) 353 740 72 to 75
Ext:
269