KMC to renovate Bir's elderly care center soon

KATHMANDU, July 2: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) said that it has already called for a tender for the renovation of elderly care center at Bir Hospital, which had collapsed during a heavy rainfall few weeks ago. The KMC had built a separate facility at Bir Hospital to provide integrated services to senior citizens and disabled people from a single desk.



The metropolis and the hospital administration started the special Outpatient Department (OPD) service on April 15. The service had to be halted after a month after the department´s roof collapsed. [break]



Officials at metropolis said that a contractor would be selected within the next couple of days and the service will resume soon. "Stern action will be taken against the former contractor for flawed construction," said Sanjaya Raj Upadhya, chief of Physical Infrastructure Development Division of KMC. He said that the office will take action against contractor after the probe committee submits its report. Upadhya said that the committee has not yet submitted its report. "Important thing is to resume the service and we are working for that," added Upadhya.



Bir Hospital administration said that the service will be resumed only after the KMC finishes the renovation works. KMC and Bir Hospital have been coordinating to provide integrated services to elderly and disabled people. The metropolis had built the infrastructure and the hospital started providing service free of cost, but the heavy rain caused the ceiling to cave in.



Elderly people over 70 and people with disabilities had been getting free services from the department. The hospital provided all the services including X-ray and lab facilities free of cost from the same 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 doctors used to transfer patients to the specialist doctors only when general practitioners failed to cure them. 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. The National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) shows that eight percent of the population is above 60 years old, whom the government calls senior citizens. The elderly service, however, is only for the people above 70.

Related story

Pak Embassy extends support to renovate and upgrade computer la...