A clean-up campaign has started in Bir Hospital, the country’s oldest hospital, at the initiative of Health Ministry.

Minister of State for Health and Population Padma Kumari Aryal flagged off the month-long campaign on Sunday.

“We shall see a real change in Bir Hospital a month from now,” she said.

The hospital with a history of more than a century is notorious for the general lack of sanitation, even though the facility has 150 cleaning staff. The hospital has around 100 toilets, most of them clogged and unusable. The staircase, hallways, floors and walls are grime-ridden.The ministry has tied up with Khem’s Cleaning Services, an Australia-based cleaning company started by Nepali native Khem Sharma, to spruce up the hospital. Khem Sharma, his team of 15 and 10 hospital cleaning staff have begun the work. Comedian Sitaram Kattel has also joined the campaign as the sanitation ambassador.

Vice-chancellor of National Academy of Medical Sciences Prof Dr Ganesh Bahadur Gurung lauded the clean-up drive and expressed hope that Bir Hospital and Trauma Centre will be spick and span in a month and will continue to remain so in the future.

Hospital’s Director Prof Dr Bhupendra Basnet said the hospital is in an improvement mission of late, both in terms of healthcare and infrastructure.“The patients are getting better services these days. We have introduced latest technology-driven medical devices at the hospital. And now we focus on clean-up and sanitation,” he said. Around 3,000 patients visit Bir Hospital daily.