Kathmandu, November 17
Construction of a 52-bed centrally integrated intensive care unit is in its final stage at Kanti Children’s Hospital in Maharajgunj.
Construction of ICU’s physical infrastructure will complete in a few days and this facility will come into operation from the month of Push (about a month from now).
Though construction work began with an initial investment of Rs 200 million in the last fiscal, the project fell short of funds pretty soon. The hospital then sought an additional 136 million rupees (approx) for project completion.
Human resources crunch
While the ICU construction is in the final phase, the unit is now facing another problem: Lack of human resources. The hospital said it has written to the Ministry of Health, pointing that human resources, including doctors and nurses, currently available at the hospital will not be enough to run the new unit.
“Apart from writing to the ministry about the human resources crunch, we are also doing homework on our own to address the situation,” hospital’s medical director Ajit Rayamajhi said.
According to Rayamajhi, the hospital requires 30 more doctors and 33 nurses. At present, the children’s hospital has an 18-bed ICU, including eight-bed neonatal care ward, six-bed paediatric ward and four-bed surgical wards.
The idea is to turn the 18-bed facility into a 52-bed integrated facility.
The hospital claims that once the 52-bed facility comes into operation, no newnate and child will have to be taken to other hospitals for treatment.
