Patients, Doctors at Risk as Dilapidated Hospital Building Sparks Fear in Lakshmipur

Doctors run treatment services at risk in the decaying building of Raipur Government Hospital in Lakshmipur district. Yesterday at noon, plaster fell from the ceiling again while Dr. Raisa, the medical officer on duty, was seeing patients in Room 1 of the hospital. She and four patients narrowly escaped with their lives.

Earlier this month, plaster and a ceiling fan fell in the rest room of the same hospital. Dr. Fouzia Mostofa was badly hurt in that accident. These repeated accidents have filled the doctors, nurses and patients of the hospital with deep fear.

Witnesses and hospital sources said the accident happened again around 12:30 pm yesterday in Room 121 on the ground floor of the old building. After the plaster fell, the hospital authorities quickly moved the patients from the risky area to a safe place.

The authorities renovated the old building of the hospital and the residential building for doctors last year at a cost of nearly Tk 50 lakh. Locals allege that the work was of poor quality. Plaster has started to fall from the ceilings of different rooms only a few months after the renovation.

Some patients and their relatives who came for treatment expressed anger. They said they came to get well, but now their own lives are in danger. They strongly demanded that the authorities repair the building safely and properly before a major loss of life happens.

Ms. Dr. Naima Nusrat Jabin, the superintendent of the hospital, said the old building has been in a very risky condition for a long time. She said the hospital has informed the higher authorities about this risk again and again, but they have taken no effective step so far. She warned that a major disaster could happen at any time if nobody acts quickly.