Newly Built Five-Bed Hospital in Myagdi Remains Unused Four Years After Completion

Doba village, densely packed on a steep slope in the upper region. At the edge of the village lies a desolate hill. Next to the hill stands a yellow concrete building. That attractive building in such a remote location is the municipal-level hospital building for Doba.

Although the building, completed in BS 2078, looks pristine from the outside, it has become like a ruin inside. The reason is the inability to operate the hospital. Four years after its completion, the five-bed capacity hospital has neither received equipment nor doctors. Currently, the building constructed at the cost of millions of rupees lies abandoned.

Doba village is located in Annapurna Rural Municipality-1 in northern Myagdi. It takes 15-20 minutes by vehicle to reach the village from the hospital building. It is an inconvenient location far from the village. There is neither a good road nor an organized settlement. The hospital, built with land donated by locals in line with the federal government's policy to operate a basic level hospital in every municipality, has become a case of 'joy without realization' for the residents of Doba.

Dilipkumar Garbuja, Ward Chairman of Annapurna Rural Municipality-1 Doba, stated that the hospital building could not be put into use due to a lack of budget and failure to manage manpower. According to Ward Chairman Garbuja, the five-bed municipal-level hospital building, completed four years ago, has been abandoned due to the lack of attention from all three tiers of government towards managing equipment and necessary human resources.

Chairman Garbuja informed that the hospital was constructed by Ravina-Amit JV for Rs 51,260,652 after securing a contract for an area spanning twelve ropani seven anna two dam. Garbuja added that seven local individuals provided over 12 ropani and seven anna of land free of cost for the hospital's construction.

The hospital building has 35 rooms, including an accessible emergency room, inpatient, outpatient, laboratory, administrative, pharmacy storage rooms, separate treatment rooms, and staff quarters. Mansara Garbuja from Annapurna Rural Municipality-1 Doba complained that even for minor illnesses, they have to travel to Beni for treatment because the hospital building remains non-operational despite being built. Bharat Pun, Chairman of Annapurna Rural Municipality, stated that although the five-bed earthquake-resistant building was constructed, the provincial and federal governments have failed to manage the necessary resources and manpower.