The Nepal Medical Association (NMA) on Saturday warned that Out-Patient Department (OPD) in private hospitals across the country will be shut down if the government does not scrap its decision to cut off dedicated feeder lines to the health institutions in the next 72 hours. 

The government had decided to stop power supply through dedicated feeder to private companies, including hospitals. The health institutions had been getting uninterrupted electricity on the ground that they were extremely sensitive zones. 

Holding a press conference on Saturday, NMA General Secretary Dr Mukti Ram Shrestha said they would initially wear a black armband in a symbolic protest and would  follow it up by stopping OPD services. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had assured that the decision would be rescinded while receiving an NMA memorandum but the hospitals are yet to get the service, the NMA said.

“It’s been over a week since we received PM’s assuance, but there has not been any progress on resuming the services,” said Dr Shrestha. “We will begin our protest from Wednesday if the government does not heed to our demands.”

A majority of the hospitals in the Valley have installed the dedicated feeder services. It would require over Rs1 million to install the services. However, considering the long power cuts the public is forced to endure, the government had decided to cut off the feeder lines from business enterprises, including hospitals.

Dr Chakra Raj Pandey, Medical Director at Grande International Hospital, said they were struggling to deliver health services after the dedicated feeder was cut off. He claimed that they had invested Rs20 million only a month ago to get the feeder services from Maharajung to the Tokha-based hospital. 

According to the NMA, many essential units and services including intensive care unit, oxygen supply, among others, need round-the-clock electricity. 

The Nepal Electricity Authority had written to private hospitals, asking them to remove the dedicated feeder on the third week of February. Mukesh Kafle, NEA managing director said they were working to develop a workplan on the feeder line distribution. “The issue with hospitals will be resolved soon,” he said.