Novacare Hospitals, an emerging private healthcare provider in Pakistan, has issued a clarification over what it called misleading reports and social media posts regarding its upcoming healthcare project in Lahore and its association with UK-based institutions.
“We wish to clarify and nuance recent media reports and social media posts mischaracterising the entities and relationships involved in Novacare’s upcoming project at CBD NSIT(Nawaz Sharif IT City) Lahore,” the company said in a handout.
The NSIT project covers around 853 acres near Bedian Road in Punjab and is planned as an education and technology hub with commercial and residential areas.
The Novacare statement follows a denial by Imperial College London (ICL), which rejected the Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s government’s claims that the university would open a campus at NSIT.
“There have been erroneous reports in the media and online that Imperial is opening a campus at Nawaz Sharif IT City in Lahore,” the institution said in a statement on Tuesday.
The ICL clarification came after Marriyum Aurangzeb, Punjab’s senior minister and aide of the CM, claimed in a post on X that a campus of the British varsity will be set up in the NSIT, where a 300-bed hospital will also be set up.
The decision, Aurangzeb said, was made during a meeting chaired by CM Maryam, adding that the foundation stone of the hospital will be laid in November.
Novacare said it has been affiliated with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust since March 2024 under the Trust’s International Affiliate Network.
“The affiliation supports Novacare’s first state-of-the-art 250-bed tertiary hospital in Islamabad, now over 50% complete and scheduled to open in Q4 2026.”
The statement added that under this network, expert multidisciplinary teams from the Trust work with partner healthcare organisations to help them build high-quality clinical standards and practices.
“Novacare was the second entity globally to join this International Affiliate Network.”
The company said it plans to expand nationwide, with land already allotted in the CBD NSIT Lahore for its second major project — an Academic Medical Centre integrating healthcare, education, research, and innovation.
“This Lahore project will be similar in scale, quality and structure to Novacare’s Islamabad project, and Novacare intends to build upon its wider collaboration framework with the Trust, under which it is the exclusive affiliate of the Trust across Pakistan.”
Novacare also drew a clear distinction between Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London.
“The Trust is a UK National Health Service (NHS) organisation, operating five major hospitals in London and leading one of the UK’s largest teaching hospital groups.
“Imperial College London is a separate academic institution; while the two work together and collaborate closely in several areas, the university is not involved in the Trust’s International Affiliate Network, and hence issued a statement refuting its presence in Pakistan,” as per the statement.
The claim was also shared in a post on X by the PML-N’s official account, and was in fact “reposted” by CM Maryam herself. It was further shared on the Punjab government’s official X account as well.
