Last Friday, Manmohan Sah of Janakpur Sub-metropolitan City-8 visited the Janaki Eye Hospital, where he was examined by a technician instead of a specialist doctor.

“There are two types of tickets in the hospital. If you pay Rs 50, you’ll have to wait in line for your turn to see the doctor. If you pay Rs 250, they fast-track the process and take you to a doctor immediately,” said 49-year-old Sah. “I got a ticket costing Rs 250 but when I was taken to the doctor’s cabin, a technician walked in and told me that the doctor was away so he would examine me. I was quite taken aback.”

The hospital, which has been treating an average of 600 patients daily, is falling apart at the seams with everyday management of health services left unattended.

The hospital has been operating without a chief administrator for four years, according to the hospital’s information department.

The health institution has total designated posts for five specialist doctors but currently, only two positions are filled. Dr Ashish Bohara, who is also the executive director of the hospital, and Dr Amit Yadav are the only two specialist doctors at the hospital and in the absence of both, patients are left in the care of technicians.

On Friday, a long queue had formed outside the ticket booth but both the doctors were absent. According to hospital sources, Bohara along with acting administrator Jitendra Singh had gone to attend a medical conference in Pokhara while the patients spent the entire day waiting for the doctors.

Information Officer Rudal Prasad Sah was also on leave and Accountant Rajan Sah had gone to the bank when the Post reached the hospital on Friday.

According to hospital data, a total of 125,000 patients have been receiving OPD services at the hospital annually. About 10,000 to 11,000 of them undergo cataract surgery, about 9,000 patients undergo Small Incision Cataract Surgery and about 2,000 patients go for Phacoemulsification procedure.

The hospital is run by the Nepal Red Cross Society. A provision allows the central committee members of the Red Cross Society to appoint the chairman of the board of directors and the treasurer. In January 2021, UML leader Gangaram Yadav was appointed chairman and Sanjay Kumar Sah the treasurer.

“Not a single meeting has been held in the last 16 months since the formation of the board of directors,” Sah, the treasurer, said. “The hospital is in a pitiable state.”