No major surgeries are being carried out at Mirpur and Bheramara upazila health complexes in Kushtia as the posts for consultants and anesthetists there have remained vacant for a long time.
As a result, patients from adjacent areas are being forced to move to other facilities which in many cases are causing them additional costs.
The health complex in Mirpur was elevated to a 50-bed facility in 2006. The lone operation theatre (OT) at the facility has remained unused for a long time as there is no anesthetist at the health complex. The post of a junior consultant gynecologist has also been vacant since 2017, when doctor Tanjima Siddika was transferred to Kushtia General Hospital.
Rafikul Joarder, a resident of Sultanpur village under Mirpur municipality, told Dhaka Tribune that he had to take his pregnant wife to Kushtia city due to a lack of facilities in Mirpur. He complained that he was forced to pay Tk30,000 as hospital costs each time the couple had a baby.
Freedom Fighter Nazrul Karim, who is a member at the management committee of the health complex, told Dhaka Tribune that the committee is in regular contact with the authorities on the issue of the filling of the vacant posts at the healthcare facility.
Dr Pijush Kumar Saha, upazila family planning officer, hopes that the crisis will be resolved soon.
A similar situation prevails at the Bheramara Upazila Health Complex as well. Although the OT is functional at the facility, the posts for a consultant and anesthetist have remained vacant for a long time at this facility as well.
Nurul Amin, the upazila family planning officer, told Dhaka Tribune that the higher authorities had been notified about the vacant posts every month but to no avail.
Dr HM Anwarul Islam, the civil surgeon of Kushtia, said that the major surgeries are being shifted to other hospitals and only the minor ones are being done in Bheramara.
Malik, a local clinic owner, told Dhaka Tribune that his clinic charges a caesarean patient Tk7,000 but most patients are unable to pay the additional costs at different health facilities in the area. Many clinics also subject these patients to extortion.