Big health complexes remain virtually showpieces

Completed several months ago at a cost of Tk 7.04 crore, this impressive building of Shahjahanpur Upazila Health Complex in Bogra district remains a farce to patients in the area as the healthcare centre is still virtually inoperative due to shortage of doctors and other facilities.Photo: STAR

Two newly constructed upazila health complexes in Bogra district have remained virtually inoperative due to lack of manpower and other facilities.
Extended portions of Dhunat and Adamdighi upazila health complexes have also remained unutilised due to the same cause, said sources at Bogra civil surgeon's office.
The Construction Maintenance Management Unit (CMMU) under the Ministry of Health and Family Planning built the hospitals at a cost of Tk 15.51 crore to extend rural healthcare facilities in Adamdighi, Nandigram, Dhunat and Shahjahanpur upazilas of the district.
Newly constructed 20-bed health complexes in Shahjahanpur and Nandigram upazilas and extended portions of 50-bed Dhunat and Adamdighi upazila health complexes cannot function due to shortage of manpower including doctors, said Dr Md Abdul Hoque, civil surgeon (CS) of Bogra.
“We have arranged outdoor facilities on a temporary basis at the hospitals to provide treatment for ordinary problems like pain or flu through arranging doctors and nurses from outside,” he said.
Local hospitals authorities have continued sending letters to the director general's (DG) office every month requesting steps to fill up the posts for the hospitals but they are yet to get required manpower, he added.
Admitting the matter, DG office sources said the government could not provide required manpower for the upazila-level hospitals in the district like other upazila hospitals across the country due to shortage of doctors and other staff.
During a visit to Shahjahanpur Upazila Health Complex recently, this correspondent found that a pregnant woman was brought to the hospital for safe delivery but her relatives decided to go Bogra town as the upazila hospital does not have any arrangement for it.
CMMU Bogra office sources said the construction work of 20-bed Nandigram Upazila Health Complex was completed in 2007 spending Tk 3.18 crore and was handed over to the Bogra CS office the same year.
The outdoor was opened to provide treatment for ordinary problems but the hospital as a whole is still idle due to shortage of manpower, said Bogra CS Dr Abdul Hoque.
CMMU authorities handed over 20-bed Shahjahanpur Upazila Health Complex on April 29 this year but the hospital has only outdoor facilities for three hours a day as there is shortage of doctors and medicines. It was built at a cost of Tk 7.04 crore under a special project.
In absence of indoor treatment facilities, upazila health complex authorities have to refer patients to other healthcare centres, said Dr Md Shahidur Rahman, Shahjahanpur upazila health and family planning officer.
“We are running our outdoor service through arranging medicine and manpower including doctors from other sources as per order of district health administration,” he said.
After extension of Adamdighi Upazila Health Complex from 31-bed to a 50-bed one at a cost of Tk 2.37 crore, it was handed over to local authorities on January 20 this year.
The 31-bed Dhunat upzila hospital was upgraded to 50-bed hospital at a cost of Tk 2.92 crore in 2006.
But extended portions of both the hospitals have remained unutilised due to shortage of doctors and medicines, CS office sources said.