4 years on, hospital not fully operational

Even after four years since its inauguration, the 50-bed Islamic Mission Hospital, Sirta in Mymensingh Sadar upazila has yet to become fully operational due to acute staff shortage.

As such, over a million residents of the remote Char Sirta are deprived of essential healthcare.

At present, the hospital only runs its outpatient services, while the beds and other logistics are lying idle.

The four-storey hospital, built on three acres of land, was intended to provide healthcare for rural people in the remote riverine shoal including maternity care and normal child deliveries. The facility was also designed with quarters for doctors and staff to provide round-the-clock services. However, none of these services are currently available.

Fuad Hasan Sifat, administrative officer of the hospital, said the inpatient services could not be started since the hospital’s inauguration in 2022 due to manpower crisis.

As such, patients now have to travel a distance of some 20 kilometres to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital (MMCH) for treatment, said Selim Mahmud, a school teacher.

Only a few doctors visit the hospital for outdoor consultations, often requiring hundreds of patients waiting for hours for their turn, he added.

According hospital sources, there are 61 staff posts but appointments have been made to only five posts including that of a superintendent, while 20 fourth-class employees have been outsourced. While there are 15 doctor posts including consultants and surgeons, only three doctors work in the hospital including an eye specialist who visits occasionally.

Diagnostic services such as ECG, ultra-sonogram and pathology tests are done but X-ray service has been suspended due to staff shortage, said hospital superintendent Dr AKM Badrul Ahsan.

Similarly, surgeries are not being done in the operation theatre due to lack of surgeons, he added.

Moreover, the hospital does not have adequate medicine supply for outdoor patients. While around 400 patients visit the hospital daily, medicines worth only around Tk 15 lakh was allocated in last fiscal year against the huge number of outdoor patients, said hospital sources.

The hospital was set up as part of a government-supported healthcare initiative to expand medical services in underserved rural areas, but the people are deprived of the intended facilities for four years since it started operation, said Nazmul Anwar, a local resident.

Aynul Islam, a local battery-run auto-rickshaw driver, said people are not getting their desired services from the hospital. For serious cases, they have to travel some 20km to MMCH, which is often costly for poor people, he added.

Expressing frustration over the hospital’s facilities, local people demanded immediate steps to appoint adequate number of doctors and staff to make it fully operational.

“Higher authorities have been informed in this regard but it is still uncertain when the issue will be resolved,” said hospital superintendent Dr Badrul Ahsan.