The extremely poor from far flung villages arrive at Bir Hospital hoping to get treatment, but are compelled to go to other hospitals. This, despite the fact that the hospital has recently bolstered its cardiology appendage.[break]
The National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS), under which Bir operates, has recently started the Doctorate in Medicine (DM) course in cardiology, considered a top degree in medical sciences. But the hospital is poorly equipped even to run the program.
Even the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital does not have the TMT machine used to study the patient´s heart beat. "We do not even have the heart monitor system TMT\ECG in the ICU section," Senior Consultant Cardiologist at the hospital, Dr Prakash Raj Regmi, said. The machine has remained dysfunctional for six months. The movements of the heart of a patient admitted in ICU must be monitored regularly.
"We have repeatedly asked for the machine. But neither have we got a new one, nor has the old been repaired," Dr Regmi said. Consequently, heart patients are immediately referred to Shaheed Gangalal Heart Center (SGHC) or other hospitals in the capital.
According to the hospital administration, more than 70 patients with heart related ailments visit the OPD of the hospital every day. "We just check their blood pressure and do other minor check ups and refer them to Gangalal hospital,” Dr Regmi said. But 20 years ago, the hospital had advanced facilities in the cardiology department. The hospital used to provide open heart surgery, Angiography, Pace Maker and other surgeries back then.
Against this backdrop, it seems incongruous that NAMS has started DM study. "NAMS has started the DM study but we do not even have a proper facility to teach MBBS," Dr Regmi said. The government has only three cardiologists across the country. Two work at Bir Hospital and one works in a hospital in Birjung. The Hospital has cardiac catheterization laboratory (CATH LAB) but due to the lack of trained manpower it has not come into function.
Dr Damodar Pokhrel, the Vice Chairman of NAMS said that the open heart surgery service has been stopped at the hospital because a veteran who could administer anesthetic was severely injured in an accident. "We don´t have other anesthesia expert. The surgery will resume after he will be back at work in a week ," Dr Pokhrel said.
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