The Aga Khan University Hospital, Pakistan > About Us > Welcome by CEO, Outreach Health Network, Pakistan

Welcome to The Aga Khan University, Outreach Health Network, Pakistan.

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​As the CEO of the Aga Khan University, Outreach Health Network Pakistan, I would like to welcome you on behalf of our dedicated team of doctors, nurses, administrators, technicians and staff, who strive to provide high quality healthcare and diagnostic services. The Aga Khan University Hospital, over the past three decades, has been a leader in delivering quality healthcare in the region, and has adapted to the rapidly changing and challenging healthcare needs of the people we serve. We are committed to delivering patient-centered care, at par with the best healthcare systems around the world. To meet the demand of our patients, the Clinical Laboratories and Outreach Services expanded its reach and is now present in over 120 cities of Pakistan and includes 14 stat laboratories, over 290 laboratory specimen collection units, 42 outpatient medical centres and 33 pharmacies. In addition, for the convenience of our patients we offer a wide range of home-based services including nursing procedures, immunisation, lab specimen collection, stay-in care, palliative care and physiotherapy. 

Our commitment to making quality healthcare accessible to all is demonstrated by our Patient Welfare Programme. Since inception of the programme till 2020, more than 5.3 million patient visits were supported by Rs. 21.09 billion. In 2020, more than 812,000 patient visits were supported with ​over Rs. 2.9 billion. Patient Welfare is also available at over 200 lab specimen collection units across the country. Access to high quality healthcare to communities is also provided through our subsidised clinics which are facilitated by our medical centres across Pakistan. We have partnered with the Government of Sindh to eliminate Hepatitis C in the province and continue to provide support to the Government for various initiatives. 

Our quality standards are recognised through our accreditation by the Joint Commission International (JCI), the gold standard in quality and patient safety, and by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the gold standard in clinical laboratory testing. Today, we are the only Academic Medical Centre in Pakistan to hold both of these gold standard accreditations. Moreover, we have maintained JCI accreditation since 2006, and CAP accreditation since 2016, raising the standards of healthcare delivery in the country.

We focus on training and development of our staff to continuously improve and enhance their skills. In order to ensure continued provision of quality care, our nurses, technicians, phlebotomists, pharmacists, physiotherapists and all staff are trained prior to deployment and retrained on an ongoing basis.  
It is a privilege to be a part of an exceptional team of people who work tirelessly and selflessly to make sure that our patients, our employees and our loved ones remain safe.

Shagufta Hassan 
CEO, AKU Outreach Health Network, Pakistan.​

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Ms. Shagufta Hassan is an internationally acclaimed leader in healthcare management and operations. A Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and a graduate of University of Navarra, Spain, where she completed the Advanced Management Programme, Ms. Hassan now serves as the Chief Executive Officer for AKU’s Outreach Health Network in Pakistan. 

Ms. Hassan is a Senior Executive, with over 30 years of experience working in multinational and national companies in leadership positions, creating distinction and excellence. She has a strong academic background in finance and management and has held various positions of increasing responsibility in executive management, operations, and finance. She thrives in setting out enduring long-term business strategies, implementing them through robust planning and building high-caliber teams. She encourages ownership and entrepreneurship from the teams, keeping patients at the center of the decision-making process. 

Ms. Hassan began her journey with the Aga Khan University (AKU) in 2003, and soon enough, with her passion, enthusiasm and dedication, took various leadership roles. During these years, Ms. Hassan efficiently managed operations, and developed and implemented business plans and strategies. Her experience includes and is not limited to financial planning and managing complex operations. 

From May 2019 till November 2020, she was the Interim Chief Executive Officer for AKUH – Karachi, where her skills and leadership managed to navigate the University / University Hospital delicately through the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, keeping our Hospitals and Health Centres fully operational, while maintaining and not compromising on the quality of our services and safety of our employees and patients. 

Prior to this, since 2015, Ms. Hassan held the role of Chief Operating Officer, Off Campus Operations - a role which she performed with great success. Earlier, she held a succession of senior positions within the Aga Khan University.

Prior to AKU, Ms. Hassan has worked with A.F. Ferguson’s (PricewaterhouseCoopers) and has also been an instructor for the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan, the Institute of Chartered Certified Accountants, UK and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK. 

Alongside her professional work, she has continued to serve various institutions of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and other organisations in her voluntary capacity for over 20 years. She is presently serving on the Board of the Aga Khan Health Services, Pakistan and is a member of the AKDN CEO Forum. Additionally, she organises skill enhancement trainings to create employment for the youth from the Northern Areas of Pakistan. She is a champion of women’s rights, and led the Women’s Development Portfolio for the Aga Khan Regional Council. She conducts trainings for the empowerment of women and has trained over 1,500 women across Pakistan, in recognition of which she was nominated as a Champion Combatting Gender-Based Violence by the United States Consulate in Pakistan in 2017. Ms. Hassan is also very passionate to pass on her knowledge and learnings to the future leaders of Pakistan, and is an Honorary Lecturer for the Masters in Health Policy and Management programme at AKU.

Her contribution and work have also been recognised through several national and international awards and recognitions, which include: 
  • Appointed by the World Health Organization (WHO) a temporary adviser for the “Implementation of the Regional Framework for Action for the Hospital Sector in the Eastern Mediterranean Region” (2019);  
  • Was conferred the Women Leadership Excellence Award, by the GCC Women Leaders, presented by the World Women Leadership Congress & Awards (2019);
  • Was conferred the 100 Most Impactful Healthcare Leaders Award, by the World Health and Wellness Congress & Awards (2019);
  • Nominated amongst the Top 100 Best Performing CEO’s of 2017 by the CEO Club Pakistan;
  • Received the Women’s Achievement Award by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (2017); and
  • Received the Pond’s Miracle Woman Award by the Pond’s Institute (2017).​
The Aga Khan University Hospital will be recognised as one of the best health care institutions in Pakistan and the developing world.​​​

The Aga Khan University Hospital is a private, not for profit, organization with a mission to:

  • Strive for excellence in healthcare through the provision of the highest quality, expert, compassionate and ethical care to all patients irrespective of their background. 

  • Develop, implement and evaluate innovations in health care, research and education so as to improve the quality of people's health.

  • Support the teaching, research and service missions of the University through an enabling and collaborative environment that motivates and inspires excellence.

  • Provide access for needy patients who may not, on account of financial difficulties, be able to afford to pay for their care, and to reach out to those who might not otherwise present themselves at the Hospital.

  • Contribute to the development of a system of health care encompassing primary, secondary and tertiary care, and not geographically confined to the Main Hospital Campus facility.

  • Develop new services in response to public expectations on an economically viable and sustainable basis.

  • Implement strategies that demonstrate the ability of the institution to be self-sustaining in and supportive of health systems strengthening for the nation and region that it serves developing nation environment.​​​

The Aga Khan University Hospital operates on the core principles of Quality, Relevance, Impact and Access.

We are a patient-centric institution and strive to provide care that is respectful and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values.  We try to ensure that patient values guide all our clinical decisions. Our staff performance is measured against our guiding principles by assessing their Communication, Attitude, Responsiveness, Respect and Care.​​