DHANKUTA, MARCH 18
Dhankuta District Hospital has a quota for five permanent doctors. The hospital, however, has just one doctor working on contract.
Local people are forced to visit Sunsari and Morang for health services due to lack of specialist doctors at the hospital. Two permanent doctors are on study leave.
The government had given permission to upgrade the district hospital to 100-bed health facility two years ago.
But the upgradation work of the infrastructure is nowhere in sight.
More than 100 patients from Dhankuta, Sankhuwasabha, Terhathum, and Bhojpur visit the hospital on a daily basis. But, the hospital has turned into referral hospital as it lacks manpower for the treatment.
The hospital's pleas to the Department of Health for medical doctors has fallen on deaf ears. Medical students from BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, intern at the district hospital. Thus, most of the patients are referred to private hospitals in Morang and Sunsari, said Hospital Development Committee former chair Sunil Thangol.
Dhankuta is home to a hospital, two primary health centres, 24 health posts, 11 sub-health posts, and two ayurvedic pharmacies.
Former Province 1 chief minister Bhim Acharya had inaugurated 100-bed hospital. Sadly, lack of doctors and equipment has left the patients to suffer.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 19, 2022, of The Himalayan Times
