BAJURA, APRIL 12

The construction of a 10-bed hospital in Jagannath Rural Municipality of Bajura district has been completed and is now operational, albeit facing initial challenges in managing shortages of doctors and equipment.

The hospital, whose foundation stone was laid by the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli under the One local level one hospital program, has come into operation, informed Kali Bahadur Shahi, chair of the rural Municipality.

Among the nine local levels, Jagannath Rural Municipality has completed the hospital and started the operation first, Shahi claimed, 'though the hospital built near the center of the rural municipality in Juddi is facing initial challenges of staffing and equipment shortages'.

The hospital, constructed at the cost of Rs 117,845,550, began construction on Jestha 1 of 2078 BS by Khadka Purna JV Construction Company, Surkhet.

The newly built hospital will not only provide easy access to treatment for residents of Jagannath but also extends its care to neighboring local levels of the district like Swamikartik Khapar Rural Municipality and other local levels of Kalikot district.

Though the hospital has the provision of 22 employees, including two MBBS doctors, the facility is currently being managed by health assistants and staff nurses due to the lack of doctors and equipment due to budget constraints.

During the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the local level had run a COVID hospital, and the staff hired during that time are managing the hospital at this moment, informed Jagannath Municipality's Chief Administrative Officer Rabindra Bahadur Shahi.

Currently, there are six health workers, including one health assistant, one pharmacist, one lab technician, one radiologist, and one staff nurse, along with one sweeper and office assistant working in the hospital.

Although the federal government has sent a staff chart, the local government is facing challenges in managing that workforce, as informed by the municipality.

Local people find it convenient to access general healthcare services at the hospital, for which patients have to travel to Kolti Martadi. In the case of general illness, they have been able to access to the health services nearby instead of traveling far, said local Dal Bahadur Kadara.