The intensive care units (ICUs) at Comilla Sadar General Hospital and Comilla Medical College Hospital are on the verge of closure, with the doctors, nurses, and other staff providing ICU services having not received their salaries for the past four months.
These ICUs were established as emergency projects during the Covid-19 pandemic.
There are 10-bed ICU facilities at both Comilla Sadar Hospital and Comilla Medical College Hospital.
Patients are now being deprived of this critical service.
Meanwhile, doctors, nurses, and staff are protesting in Dhaka, demanding their overdue salaries and permanent employment.
Despite ongoing strikes, services are still being maintained.
For a long time, the people of Comilla had demanded ICU services at these hospitals.
Now, they are urging the authorities to keep them running.
Last week, there were three patients in the 10-bed ICU at Comilla Sadar Hospital, but no new patients could be admitted due to staff shortages, despite high demand.
Dr Abdul Muqtadir, a junior consultant and ICU specialist, said that since January, the doctors, nurses, and staff have not been paid.
"We do not even know whether we still have jobs or not. There is a lot of dissatisfaction. Protests are ongoing in Dhaka, and staff members are participating there, making it impossible to admit new patients. Without job security, how can anyone be expected to provide services?" he said.
He mentioned that while the project was supposed to end in June, the decision to terminate it came as early as December of last year.
They were informed that salaries would be paid under outsourcing regulations, but that has not happened either, he added.
Investigations revealed that although the ICU was equipped with approximately Tk25 crore worth of equipment during the pandemic, it could not be operated due to a lack of specialist doctors.
Eventually, it was launched on November 14, 2023, using personnel posted at Comilla Medical College Hospital.
According to regulations, two more medical officers (MOs) were required, who were also recruited under the project.
The team includes three nurses and six support staff, including attendants and ward boys.
Despite the challenges, the doctors have been providing uninterrupted service.
However, the number of ICU beds is significantly lower than needed.
Other ICU doctors include Dr Tania and Dr Chayon.
Since the ICU at Comilla Sadar Hospital runs entirely under the project, it is now at risk of closure.
The 20-bed isolation unit launched during the Covid-19 period has already shut down, and expensive equipment is deteriorating.
At Comilla Medical College Hospital, there was also a 10-bed isolation unit and, during the end of the pandemic, a 10-bed ICU was opened.
Last week, one ICU bed remained vacant—an unusual situation. Typically, ICU beds are fully occupied.
Relatives of patients such as Nazrul, 50, and Khodeza, 70, who were admitted on Sunday, said they could not afford private ICU care and emphasized the necessity of continuing this public service.
Dr Moin Uddin, the junior consultant in charge of the Comilla Medical College Hospital ICU, noted that during the pandemic, 84 doctors like him were hired nationwide under the emergency project.
Additionally, one registrar, one assistant registrar, and three other doctors are responsible for operating the ICU
The other two MOs are on deputation from other upazilas and continue to receive their regular salaries.
The remaining team members—including nurses, attendants, and ward boys—are all employed on a project basis.
Across the country, 1,004 such staff members have not received their salaries for the past four months.
Dr Moin Uddin also mentioned that these three doctors are managing a 10-bed HDU (High Dependency Unit) alongside the ICU.
If the project ends, their jobs will be terminated, leaving the ICU without specialists, as the two remaining MOs alone will not be sufficient to operate it, he said.
A former principal of Comilla Medical College, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed shock that ICU services are being shut down due to a lack of manpower at a major medical institution like Comilla.
He noted that the hospital did not have an ICU previously.
An initiative was taken to open another 10-bed ICU unit during his tenure, but it never materialized, resulting in costly medical equipment going to waste, he said.
He alleged that during the Awami League government's tenure, private hospital owners—many of whom were influential doctors and leaders of medical associations—opposed the establishment of ICUs in public hospitals.
Dr Moin Uddin said that their contractual employment was initially under UNFPA and later under the ERPP (Emergency Pandemic Preparedness) project, running from the pandemic’s onset until June 2025.
Yet, salaries have been stopped prematurely, citing a lack of funds, he added.
This has left the doctors, nurses, and support staff feeling despair.
He expressed sorrow at witnessing helpless patients and their families begging for treatment. "Only those who have gone through it can understand the desperation involved in getting a single ICU bed."
Dr Abdul Muqtadir of Comilla Sadar Hospital further noted that they were recruited and joined in June 2020.
Initially, the project was extended for a year, then another year, and eventually in six-month intervals until now.
Though they were told the project ended in December, it was supposed to continue till June, with salaries paid via government outsourcing rules.
However, everything has now come to a halt, prompting the staff to protest.
Dr Abdul Muqtadir added: "This is not how a job should function. We have been left hanging. Staff are losing motivation. Under such conditions, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep the ICU running."
Dr Ali Nur Bashir, the superintendent of Comilla Sadar Hospital and civil surgeon said: "This is a matter of higher-level decision-making. Though the project ended in December, we are hopeful it will continue till June. The ministry will decide how the ICUs at Comilla Medical College Hospital and Sadar hospitals will operate in the future. None of us wants them shut down."
Shah Md Alamgir Khan, former president of the Conscious Citizens' Committee of Comilla said: "The two largest government hospitals in Comilla— Comilla Medical College Hospital and Sadar—had no ICU. The ICUs were launched during the end of the pandemic under a project. There is a clear demand and necessity. Even if the project ends, we strongly urge that the ICU services be continued."
