The 20-bed NICU that was set up in the hospital one month ago at the initiatives of the then hospital medical superintendent Dr Sumitra Gautam aimed to end risks of child mortality for want of a NICU, said the hospital staffs. But the service has been closed following the transfer of Dr Gautam, they said.
Dr Gautam said that she felt sorry for the closure of the service shortly after her transfer. The hospital had managed a team of health workers including six nurses to operate the NICU. So, the hospital should resume the service, she said.
Without the service, the hospital has been forced to refer the patients to private hospitals. Chief of the district coordination committee, Nabaraj Gelal, also former chair of the hospital management committee, demanded resumption of the service in the hospital.
The NICU service provided by the hospital for the first time since its establishment 119 years ago has been closed due to lack of hospital's preparedness to run it, said the hospital medical superintendent Dr Shreedhar Dhungel.
