Patients at Dailekh District Hospital are being compelled to undergo treatment on the floor due to the lack of hospital beds. Considering the increasing number of patients, the hospital has been operating 65 beds in its dilapidated structure for the past few years.
According to the Acting Chief of the District Health Office, Manoj Bishwakarma, the problems started to arise after more than 150 patients started coming in for daily treatment. He said that there is no space to place additional beds due to the lack of infrastructure. Patients have to be treated on mats placed on the floor and on chairs. Although the construction of a new building began four years ago, it has not yet been completed. The building is being constructed at a cost of Rs 18,24,00,000 under the Karnali Province Government. According to Chief Bishwakarma, the agreement was to complete the construction within three years. The failure to complete the hospital building on time has been attributed to the negligence of the Urban and Building Construction Project, Jumla, which has been overseeing the technical aspects of the construction, and Caravan Superstar JV Construction Company, which is responsible for the work. Tara Shah, Director of the construction company, stated that legal disputes and issues related to tree felling had prevented the construction work from progressing on time.
Chairperson of the District Hospital Development Committee, Kshetrapratap Subedi, said that according to the agreement, the construction should have been completed by last May/June. He further stated that the deadline for building construction cannot be extended repeatedly.