St Joseph's Hospice, Rawalpindi

Francis O'Leary was a Catholic Priest and missionary in Rawalpindi. In 1962, while attending to a sick woman in a mud hut, O'Leary realized the need for a hospice. In 1964, he opened the first hospice in Rawalpindi. After receiving advice from Mother Teresa, he obtained loans and donations to establish hospices in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala and England.[2]

The hospital has been run for the past 30 years by the Franciscan Sisters. With 60 beds, it receives up to 300 patients a day. The staff includes 50 Pakistani nurses, aides, volunteers, doctors, and ward helpers.[1] In 2009 Sister Mairead Walsh, a nun from Dublin, ran the hospice.[3]

The hospice treats patients with chronic illnesses and disabilities, tuberculosis, meningitis, polio and typhoid fever, etc. Children with congenital deformities and malnutrition are often abandoned to the hospice.[1]

90 per cent of its outpatients and 60 per cent of its in-patients are Muslim.[3]

St Joseph's has a well functioning laboratory, provides physiotherapy treatment and has its own pharmacy. All medical services are free of charge.[1]

The Pakistani government officially recognised this service to the community when in 2006, St Joseph's received the Award of Excellence from President Pervez Musharraf.[1]

The hospice is now a teaching facility attached to the Islamabad Medical and Dental College.[4]