Although some women expecting babies were admitted at the maternity ward on Saturday after a 10-day shutdown, the hospital returned those women who needed caesarean section to deliver babies citing unavailability of experts and medicines. The maternity ward was closed for the last 10 days after Rita Roy from Kerabari VDC in Morang district died shortly after caesarean on October 16.[break]
Dr Yogendra Mishra, who is in-charge of the maternity ward, had unilaterally decided to halt all maternity services at the zonal hospital citing insecurity. Rita´s relatives had refused to accept her body demanding compensation and stringent actions against doctors involved, which gave an excuse for Dr Mishra to close down the entire maternity ward at the hospital.
Dr Mishra´s decision to shut down the maternity ward had drawn flak from even the Hospital Development Committee (HDC). Baleshwor Kamat, the HDC chairman at the Koshi Zonal Hospital, went to accuse Mishra of closing the maternity ward without justifiable reasons for the sake of promoting private clinics. “Some doctors are hell-bent on pushing the zonal hospital into a mess to benefit their private clinics,” Kamat said. “They are returning all patients.”
Kamat alleged that Mishra shut down the ward without any valid reasons. “As long as doctors are ready to work, we must not halt our services,” Kamat said. “We are ready to resolve whatever problems they have. If some doctors intend to promote their clinics at the cost of the public hospital, they should better resign.”
However, Dr Mishra defended his decision by arguing that the maternity ward shutdown was necessary to assuage doctors´ fears. He said that he closed the ward as the hospital administration turned a blind eye to the threats against doctors. “Doctors work only to be threatened. This is unacceptable,” said Dr Mishra.
As the HDC chief and the maternity ward in-charge lock horns over the shutdown, an increasingly larger number of patients turn their back to the zonal hospital. The hospital, which would otherwise see the flow of around 1,000 patients every day, is now providing medical services to hardly 40-50 patients.
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