Long-delayed BMU facility to be fully functional soon

The Super Specialised Hospital at Bangladesh Medical University (BMU), which has remained underutilised for around four years, will be made fully functional within six months, newly appointed Vice Chancellor Prof FM Siddiqui said yesterday.

Prof Saifulllah Munshi, director of the 750-bed facility built at a cost of Tk 1,868 crore, said the hospital could not be fully operational due to a lack of manpower. Recruitment delays have been the main obstacle, he added.

The hospital, established with a loan from South Korea, was inaugurated in September 2022. However, no dedicated workforce has been appointed so far, and only limited services are being provided using BMU’s existing staff and budget.

The facility aims to offer world-class healthcare and reduce the need for Bangladeshis to seek treatment abroad. It includes five specialised centres: Cardio and Cerebrovascular, Hepatobiliary and Liver Transplant, Mother and Child Healthcare, Kidney Disease and Urology, and Accident and Emergency.

The recruitment process during the Awami League tenure was halted over allegations of corruption. An attempt was made to recruit manpower during the interim government, but it failed.

Prof Siddiqui, who took charge on April 5, said making the super specialised hospital fully functional is one of his top priorities.

Around Tk 2,000 crore has been spent to build the hospital, but it could not be made fully functional due to complexities over recruitments, said the BMU VC.

“Changes will come within three to six months, and the hospital will become dynamic within this time,” he said while speaking to reporters after attending a Memorandum of Understanding signing event at the hospital, alongside Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain.

The hospital’s director Prof Saifulllah said many highly sophisticated procedures, such as kidney transplants, are supposed to be conducted at the facility, requiring highly skilled personnel.

“But we will not get such manpower if we offer salaries under the existing government pay scale. So we have proposed hiring staff on a contract basis with relatively higher pay,” he told this correspondent yesterday.

However, the university’s last syndicate did not approve the proposal, further delaying the process, he added.

“We need special concessions to make this hospital a model facility where people can receive services like top private hospitals, but at a much lower cost,” he added.

Officials said they are working on resolving the issue and hope for progress under the new administration.

They are still working on the issue and hope for a better outcome in the changed situation, he added.

MoU SIGNED

BMU and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to run a joint surgical clinic at BMU.

Speaking at the event, the health minister said the agreement reflects the long-standing relationship between the two countries and sought further Chinese support, particularly to improve healthcare in rural areas.

Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen said China has long been investing in the development of Bangladesh’s health sector, including establishing facilities such as robotic rehabilitation and cardiovascular clinics.

The programme was chaired by the BMU vice chancellor and attended by officials from both countries.