Bir Hospital short of equipment, workforce

Kathmandu, July 10

Former Health Minister Gagan Kumar Thapa said that Bir Hospital, the first hospital in the country needs to provide diverse health services to all the unprivileged, poor and marginalised classes of society.

He said even though the government has been planning to establish hospitals in all the provinces, Bir Hospital would be the last resort of treatment.

Speaking at the Health materials handover to Bir Hospital by Muna Memorial Trust, Palpa; organised at Bir Hospital today, he informed that the hospital was established to provide service to the citizens. He also said that doctors working at Bir Hospital were highly qualified. He added that the only difference between public hospital and private hospital was the availability of technology as doctors and other human resources working in the private sector were also the products of public hospitals.

He also said that, politics among doctors wouldn’t do any good as far as the quality of health service was concerned. So he requested doctors not to try to fulfil their vested interests by putting pressure on political leaders. Muna Memorial Trust, handed over 370 pieces of patient gowns to the hospital. Bir Hospital has nearly 370 beds. “The gown fund of two lakh rupees had been collected from Austria Nepali Society. Muna was a former worker at Bir Hospital, who died in the United States,” said Amrit Adhikari. He informed that Bir Hospital required support not only from the government but also from the private sector.

Dr Bhupendra Kumar Basnet, director at Bir Hospital, said that though Bir Hospital is called the ‘father of all hospitals in Nepal’ it lacks technology and human resources. He said, “We have been providing the services from available resources. But it is not enough for this kind of central hospital. Many underprivileged, abandoned, helpless people, who cannot afford a single rupee for their treatment come to the hospital everyday. Such cases are handled at the hospital. The government must take note of the condition of its central hospital and provide necessary equipment and the resources.”

Bir Hospital is constructing another building due to lack of space. He informed that as soon as the building was ready, there would be sufficient space to accommodate patients.