The Seti Zonal Hospital in Dhangadhi largely caters to the people in the Far West who cannot afford medical care in private hospitals. While affordability factor has been attracting hundreds of poor people from all five districts in the region to this state-run medical facility, the services they are receiving are reportedly dismal.

The hospital’s state is such that frustrated by poor services many of its patients have been compelled to seek treatment at private hospitals and clinics.

When Dhanraj Bhatta of Dadeldhura brought his pregnant wife to the hospital recently, he was surprised at how the patients were being cared for and at the shortcomings of resources.

“The doctor assigned to take care of my wife was around only three times in five days. I later learned that the doctors at the hospital were giving more time at private clinics. No wonder the majority of patients go to see the doctors at clinics,” he said. 

Jitraj Joshi of Baitadi, who visited the hospital with his sick daughter, also had a similar experience as Bhatta.

“It was a torture,” he said, “nothing works at the hospital and there is nowhere the patients and their relatives could go to complain.”

The 125-bed hospital does not even have an enquiry desk, let alone other facilities that are expected of a medical institution.

Dr Sajan KC, the medical superintendent at the hospital, admitted to the facility lacking human resources and infrastructure but did not agree with the patients’ claim that the doctors were rarely around. “We need at least 80 doctors to run the hospital smoothly but we only have 10 specialist doctors working for us,” he said.

The patients and their relatives that the Post contacted at the hospital, however, shared a different story.

They said the doctors at the hospital have been advising them to visit other hospitals.

Viral fever grips Ilam

ILAM: Hundreds of people have fallen ill due to viral fever in Ilam since last June, health workers said. The District Hospital said around 150 patients have been visiting daily with viral fever symptoms. Most of the patients are children, women and elderly citizens, said Ganesh Rijal, a health assistant of the hospital. He added that there was a shortage of beds because of high patient numbers in the 50-bed hospital. The health facilities of Pyang, Mangalbare, Fikkal and Pashupatinagar are also packed with viral fever patients these days.