Kathmandu, November 5:

The Nick Simons Institute (NSI) has given this year’s Nick Simons Award to Dr Tarun Paudel for his outstanding contribution to rural healthcare.

Dr Paudel is the first person to receive the award. The institute founded the award to recognise the work of a healthcare worker who renders service to rural areas of Nepal for long demonstrating an exemplary personal and leadership qualities in the field.

According to Dr Mark Zimmerman, executive director of the institute, Dr Paudel was selected following an NSI field assessment of healthcare workers in 35 districts.

Dr Paudel, a native of Baglung district, has worked as government doctor in several rural hospitals. He has been working in the Baglung District Hospital for nine years.

“I am truly happy to receive this award,” Dr Paudel said.

The Nick Simons Institute was established in 2006 in memory of Nick Simons, a 24-year-old graduate of the US who worked in Nepal in 2002. While he was returning home with the dream of becoming a doctor, he drowned in Indonesia in 2003.