Bara, December 11:

The Bara District Hospital in Kalaiya has not been able to cater to the needs of the common people due to inadequate staffers there and the decrepit hospital buildings.

A doctor and two staff nurses are the only ones running the only hospital in the district that caters to over 0.6 million people.

According to government plan, there should have been four doctors and four staff nurses in the hospital.

The emergency building’s roof and walls have developed cracks, the quarters for the staffs are falling apart and the construction of the Out-Patient Department building is incomplete.

Of the three doctors working in the hospital, one of them left to pursue higher studies, another was transferred to the Narayani Zonal Hospital, while a post of another doctor still remains vacant. The 25-bed hospital has resources barely sufficient to manage 15 beds.

Dr Ram Lakhan Sah, the medical supervisor of the hospital, who has been performing a double task of looking after the hospital administration plus providing medical services to the patients, said: “When any of the staff fails to attend, it becomes difficult for us to run the hospital. Lack of human resources has affected the post mortem department the most.” “We get Rs 30,000 for maintenance and Rs 0.11 million to buy medicines. The budget is spent mostly on administrative and regular expenses,” said Parshu Ram Shrestha, the District Health Officer. According to him, locals tried to set up an OPD by collecting funds and laying the foundation for the building. However, the building is incomplete due to acute funds crunch.

“The hospital needs a minimum amount Rs 3 crore for renovation,” Shrestha said. He added that the Minister for Health and Population, Amik Sherchan, visited the hospital in August and assured funds to renovate the hospital. The District Health Office has written a letter to the Ministry stating the needs of the hospital, but to no avail.