Mustang. Recently, the number of patients in Jomsom State Hospital has started to increase daily. With the increase in the number of patients coming to the district’s only 25-bed hospital, problems and challenges have started to increase in terms of management.
Acting Medical Superintendent of Provincial Hospital Jomsom, Dr. Samsika Kandel informed that the number of patients in the Provincial Hospital Jomsom has increased relatively rapidly as the summer season has started and it is favorable for tourists to visit Mustang. He said that the number of patients in the hospital has increased due to the fact that the locals of Mustang have left Basi and returned to the district due to the summer season and tourists who have come here fall ill due to various reasons.
According to Dr. Kandel, some of the tourists who came to Mustang get sick and come to seek services for patients of this nature. He says that the number of patients in the hospital has increased because tourists, locals and wage laborers are getting sick due to different types of problems and not because of summer.
Although the state hospital is said to have 25 beds, it has only 15 beds. The newly constructed hospital building has 15 beds but is yet to be handed over. Even though the state government has upgraded the beds, there is a problem in the management of the patient population when the service is provided through the same infrastructure. Recently, with the increase in the number of Muktinath pilgrims, the number of tourists taking the hospital’s services has also started increasing, the hospital said.
At present, 25 beds in three rooms are kept in the ward and emergency services are provided. Due to the availability of maternity services and other services in the hospital, the hospital has become overcrowded with patients. According to the hospital, a total of 8,667 people received health services from July to April of the current financial year at the state hospital in Jomsom.
Dr. Kandel mentioned that there are 42 people in the provincial hospital. There are 6 people including one MDGP doctor, two hospital nursing inspectors, two stop nurses, two nursing officers, two health assistants and two assistants for health service delivery. According to the hospital, there are three health assistants and one office assistant in Muktinath.