Five specialised children's hospitals to open within six months

The government is set to open five 200-bed specialised children's hospitals in Khulna, Barishal, Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions, and Cumilla district within the next six months. The hospitals in Barishal and Khulna divisions are scheduled to be operational by early August.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain said tenders for necessary furniture and equipment for the five hospitals have already been completed. Each hospital will require a staff of 1,475. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has already directed the Minister of Public Administration to allocate the full staff complement.

"The furniture and equipment tenders for these five hospitals have already been completed. Each hospital will require 1,475 staff members. The prime minister has already instructed the public administration minister to allocate the full staff," the health minister said.

The minister said neonatal ventilators, CT scanners, X-ray machines, portable X-rays, multi-parameter or cardiac monitors, phototherapy machines, and other equipment needed to run the 200-bed children's hospitals will be delivered by July. The Barishal hospital is set to be inaugurated on August 1.

Each hospital will feature an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), central air conditioning, and scope for future expansion. A large space will be reserved for the ICU.

The Prime Minister's Special Assistant for Health Affairs, Dr SM Ziauddin Hyder, said the Barishal hospital will open in August, starting with emergency department services in the first phase.

The under-construction Khulna Divisional Children's Hospital is also being fast-tracked. Work is progressing to open the hospital within six months.

The Rangpur Children's Hospital, which had remained unused for six years after construction, is also being opened under the prime minister's directive.

The government has also taken the initiative to open the Rajshahi Children's Hospital. Health Services Division Secretary Md Kamruzzaman Chowdhury and Directorate General of Health Services Director General Professor Dr Prabhat Chandra Biswas have visited the hospital and provided necessary directives.

The Secretary of the Health Services Division said outdoor services will be launched at the children's hospital in the first phase, with plans to gradually introduce other services in the next fiscal year.