Little done at Western Regional Hospital

Pokhara, March 23

Though the government in Gandaki Province had directed hospitals across the province with 50 or more bed capacity to set up isolation wards for treatment of suspected coronavirus patients, little has been done towards that end at Western Regional Hospital.

Apparently, there is a signboard hung at the entrance urging everyone to have their temperature taken before entering, but no provision has been in place for the same, meaning the entry process is as usual. What’s more, doctors at the hospital reportedly refused to attend to a child who was rushed to the hospital by his parents over some questionable symptoms yesterday.

Blood samples of the child, who was kept in isolation, was taken and sent to Kathmandu for lab test and health workers donned in protective clothing separately collected swabs from the child.

Commenting on the delay in attending to the suspected case, hospital Director Dr Arju Acharya said attending to him immediately was not possible due to lack of protective gear. “As of now, we have only one set of personal protective equipment left, which is needed while attending to patients with critical illness,” he said. “Besides the PPE, we also lack blood test kits and an ambulance.”

According to Province Health Director Dr Binodbindu Sharma, his office informed the provincial government that more than 2,000 PPEs was required in the province. “As basic medical gear, such as PPE, is in short supply in the entire country, it makes sense that we don’t tend to certain patients.”