Gandaki Province Expanding 11 Hospitals and 11 Ayurvedic Services
Nepal Health News, Gandaki – The Ministry of Health and Population under the Gandaki Provincial Government oversees 11 hospitals and 11 Ayurvedic centers. These hospitals, which have long faced challenges due to lack of staff positions, infrastructure, and equipment, are now set to be upgraded by the government.
Currently, the total expenditure for these hospitals is NPR 597.5 million, while the revenue stands at NPR 664.7 million. The Provincial Hospital in Madhyabindu and Dhaulagiri Hospital will be expanded from 50 to 100 beds. The cabinet has already approved the Ministry of Health’s proposal to expand Manang and Mustang District Hospitals to 25 beds and the other district hospitals to 50 beds.
At present, Gandaki province hospitals have a total of 395 beds, which will increase to 700 after the upgrade. This fiscal year, Gandaki Ayurvedic Hospital in Kaski and Dhaulagiri Ayurvedic Hospital in Baglung have also started inpatient services, with both upgraded to 25-bed capacity.
Minister for Health and Population, Krishna Prasad Pathak, expressed hope that this upgrade will bring the expected improvements in the province’s health sector. He stated that along with the upgrade, necessary infrastructure, equipment, and human resources will be managed progressively.
Out of the 564 permanent staff positions, 187 are currently vacant. After the upgrade, the total staff positions will reach 1,244. Currently, there are 1,133 staff members including contract-based employees. The physical infrastructure development for Manang, Mustang, Parbat, Dhaulagiri, and Madhyabindu Provincial Hospitals is nearing completion this year.
New building construction for Lamjung, Tanahun, and Syangja provincial hospitals is planned to start next year. Therefore, managing human resources is currently the ministry’s main focus, according to Ramesh Kumar Shrestha, Health Administrator at the Ministry. “The availability of tools and equipment can be improved in phases. Some essential equipment can also be obtained from the federal government,” he said. “For now, additional costs are expected to primarily focus on managing human resources.”
The ministry is currently spending NPR 233.6 million for permanent staff and NPR 127 million for contract employees, totaling NPR 364 million. A recent study by the ministry estimates that after the upgrade, an additional NPR 111.2 million will be required to support the increased human resource needs.
