The patients of Satkhira Sadar Hospital remain at serious health risk for the past week, as the electricity connection is yet to be repaired at the facility.
Patients who arrived at the hospital from far away are facing immense suffering as they had to turn back due to unavailability of healthcare services at this facility.
Mothers in need of post-operative care and newborn babies are in danger of facing serious health issues due to the summer heat.
Adding to the misery of the patients, lack of electricity left the hospital without a consistent water supply.
Hossain Ali, husband of Sabina Khatun- a pregnant patient at the hospital, told the Dhaka Tribune: “As there is no electricity at the hospital, the doctors asked me to buy generator fuel. Only then they promised to perform a c-section on my wife.”
Commenting on the matter, Satkhira Civil Surgeon Dr Touhidur Rahman said: “The transformer of Satkhira Sadar Hospital was damaged beyond repair last week, forcing the hospital staff to shut down medical services for around 300 patients.
“The hospital needs another 150KV transformer, however the authorities concerned could not provide it to us, despite repeated requests. They installed a 50KV power transformer, which is inadequate for providing healthcare to hundreds of patients.”
He continued: “Under the circumstances, we contacted the Health Engineering Department of Khulna, requesting a 150KV transformer. Healthcare services offered in this hospital will resume fully after the new transformer is installed.”
Responding to a query, Satkhira Deputy Commissioner Md Iftekhar Hossain said: “A 150KV transformer will be available for the hospital within the next two days. The 50KV transformer was initially installed to support the suffering patients.”
