Himal Press 
ITAHARI: The Koshi Province Government has signed an agreement with Public Health Concern Trust Nepal (PHECT Nepal) to build and operate a 100-bed burns hospital in Koshi Province.
Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Karnali Province Government, Dr Sudha Devkota, and PHECT Nepal’s Executive Director, Dr. Gauri Pradhan, signed an agreement in the presence of Chief Minister Kedar Karki.
PHECT Nepal will construct the hospital on a 2.5 bigha plot in Bhawanipur, Itahari Sub-metropolitan City-11, which was purchased seven years ago. The facility will comprise 50 beds for burn patients and 50 for general patients.
The Koshi Province Government is providing Rs 15 million to PHECT Nepal for the hospital’s construction. The project is estimated to cost Rs 400 million. Chief Minister Karki has expressed a commitment to allocate additional budgetary support for the hospital. PHECT Nepal will arrange the necessary equipment and workforce for the hospital.
As per the agreement, the hospital will provide specialized medicine services for burn patients.
PHECT Nepal is operating Kirtipur Hospital and Kathmandu Model Hospital in Kathmandu. It operates the Nepal Cleft & Burn Center on Kirtipur Hospital premises.
Chief Minister Karki said the hospital is being built in Itahari so that it can serve patients from Madhesh and Koshi provinces. “Lives of some victims of fire incidents in Urlabari and Biratnagar could have been saved had there been specialized burn hospitals in the province. The loss of 11 lives in the incidents prompted us to build a burn hospital in the province,” he added.
Karki further explained that the provincial government decided to provide a grant to PHECT Nepal due to its commendable track record in offering burns-related services in Nepal.
