Kathmandu, Oct 5: Minister of State for Health and Population, Umesh Shrestha, on Monday, visited three hospitals in Bhaktapur to take stock of facilities amidst the COVID-19 crisis.

During his visit to the Bhaktapur Hospital, he was briefed about the status of physical infrastructures and available services. On the occasion, Hospital’s medical superintendent Dr. Sumitra Gautam apprised the Minister of temporary infrastructures built to cope with the COVID-19 cases, an emergency ward being retrofitted, an under-construction building, COVID -19 block, and a new ICU facility.

As Dr. Gautam said, the Hospital had extended its services in response to the COVID-19 crisis and they had been able to secure 83 percent in the performance evaluation from 38 percent, winning the award of the best health facility in the entire Bagmati Province.

As the preparations for the probable third wave of COVID-19, the Hospital has readied 36 ICU beds: 16 for adults, 10 for neonates and 10 for under 18 and works are on the final stage to produce 1,500 kiloleters of medical oxygen gas on a daily basis.

In response, the Minister insisted that the Hospital was not expected to make any compromises for its systematic operation. As he opined, a mechanism should be developed to guarantee the patient referral to a private facility only when there was no option for referring to the state-owned facility

Likewise, when he reached the Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital, he realized the facility was facing a shortage of required equipment and announced to assist the Hospital to enhance the service delivery.

As he said, a mission to ensure quality service through public health institutions should be made successful and the government would provide required scanning machines and other machinery to make cancer care affordable to all.

Likewise, during his visit to the Shahid Dharma Bhakta National Transplant Center (Human Organ Transplant Centre), he came to know that the Hospital was providing services amidst limited resources, workforce and a kidney patient had to wait for months to get one’s turn for regular dialysis services

Stating that services for kidney, cancer, heart and spinal injury issues were the priorities of the government, he said the government had the plan of supporting additional dialysis machines to the Center.

On the occasion, Center executive director Dr. Pukar Chandra Shrestha requested for bringing the policy of donation of organs of clinically dead people from accidents into practice.

He apprised the Minister that 35 ropanis of land achieved by the Center at Jhaukhel of Chagunarayan Municipality for the construction of a new building of the Center would be insufficient and it needs a larger plot of land for the new project.