Authority at the hospital said that the service had to be halted after the roof of the department collapsed. The heavy rain on Thursday saturated the ceiling, which was made up of paper. Doctors at the hospital, however, said that it was only a pretext to discontinue the service. [break]
"Only a small portion of the ceiling gave way, not the entire roof," said a doctor, who asked no to be identified in the media. Elderly people over 70 and people with disabilities had been getting free service from the department.
The OPD on the ground floor was a great respite for people who faced difficulty while climbing the hospital stairs and finding various departments.
The services had become popular in a short span of time. Even the big hospitals do not have special service dedicated to elderly and disabled patients.
"Every day over 50 patients used to visit the department," said Dr Dhurbalal Singh, chief of the department. He said that frail patients did not have to make rounds of different departments and wait in long queues for OPD services as all services were available in the same department. The department also has the laboratory facility, x-ray services, among others. Doctors at the department referred the patients to the specialists only when they failed to cure them.
"We halted the service after a portion of ceiling came down," Director of hospital Dr Buland Thapa said. Director Thapa said that the hospital administration has already sent a letter to Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) informing about the incident. The KMC had built the facility to give services to the elderly people and disabled.
The KMC chief Laxman Aryal said that action would be taken against the contractor who built the facility. "We will block the payment of contractor if found guilty," he said. Aryal said that he is yet to get detailed information about the problem. He said that the office will renovate ceiling and roof as soon as possible.
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