TRAVELING THROUGH NEPAL - DAY 3

We traveled to Bharatpur to see the progress of the hospital. The Chitwan Medical College Hospital is the largest single building in Nepal and when finished will have over 700 beds. It is the brainchild of Dr. Harish Neupani a surgeon who studied medicine abroad, and returned to Nepal to help the Nepali people, turning down the possibility of making significant money elsewhere. I met Dr. Harish through my friend Bishnu a year and a half ago. We communicated first via email then I came to Nepal in October of 2007 to try to be of some assistance in the planning and organizing of this monstrous project. In the end I was not able to do much, but was nothing short of astounded at the dream and the drive that Dr. Harish had to make this hospital a reality. I was present for the ground breaking in November of 2007. Dr. Harish informed me that he would have the hospital up and running in less than a year. To be quite honest I doubted that would be possible, but was impressed with his lofty goal.

It was dark when we arrived late the evening before so, even though we had passed by the hospital site, we had not been able to gauge the progress. It was the next morning as I was enjoying my first hot shower in Nepal this trip that I looked out the window and saw the monstrosity which is this new hospital. It was located about 3 blocks from the hotel, but you could see the building rising above all the others and all the trees as well.

We had breakfast with Dr. Harish and then we were off to tour the hospital. Presently the first two floors are finished and functioning. They will be finishing the other floors over the next 12 months. The workmanship and the design rivals that which you would find in many hospitals in the USA. As if the hospital is not a large enough undertaking, Dr. Harish is also starting a medical school as well. He had built an entire separate and quite large building for this and also dormitories (which I might add are far nicer than anything I ever stayed in during school). The whole project is absolutely amazing. In fact I lack the words to accurately describe it. All I can say is Kudos to this great man with a monumental vision.

As if the hospital and the medical school are not enough, Dr. Harish talked to us at lunch that day about another vision he has. This one involves bringing medical care, specifically surgical care to those who cannot make it to the hospital. Most times those who are the sickest cannot endure traveling, often by foot, the tens or hundreds of miles to the hospital. His idea involves having a mobile surgical unit that could be driven to the remote villages where people then could have access to the care. Once a week or so one of the surgeons from the hospital and a small staff would take the unit to a different village and perform these surgeries for free.

The nonprofit clinic I was involved with in Park City started in just such a mobile van. It was probably about 40 feet long, 12 feet wide and housed two exam rooms, a small waiting room, a restroom and was all self contained. If I remember correctly it cost about $150,000 to purchase it new. The idea for this unit would be to have an operating room, a small recovery room, a changing/rest room and then sufficient storage to have available any items needed for surgery. It also would need to be completely self contained with generators and potable water.

We discussed the possibilities of shipping one from the USA to Nepal versus having one custom built in Nepal. Either way we are estimating that the turnkey cost would be about $200,000 to $250,000. Dr. Harish has committed to having the hospital pay all maintenance and upkeep costs associated with the unit.

It might be impossible to fully comprehend the significant long term impact that a unit like this would make in Nepal. The lives it would change would not be measured in hundreds, but thousands if not many thousands. It took me only minutes to buy into this most noble of causes, and I committed to him that I would begin the process of raising funds to make his latest vision a reality. So if anyone reading this happens to have $200,000 that is burning a hole in your pocket……I have a way you can spend it and make an enormous contribution to the lives of many in Nepal.

To be continued…..