Adviser to the Ministries of Women and Children Affairs and Social Welfare Sharmeen Soneya Murshid has said ensuring modern, affordable and quality healthcare is now a pressing demand, while inaugurating a 100-bed specialized Khayrunnessa-Ibrahim General Hospital virtually on Friday.
The inauguration ceremony took place at the Bishnupur Munsef Quarter area of Comilla.
The hospital has been built to deliver low-cost healthcare services to underserved communities, Sharmeen said. She expressed hope that the facility would play a vital role in expanding access to essential medical care.
Social Welfare Secretary Dr Mohammad Abu Yusuf joined the ceremony as a special guest with National Professor AK Azad Khan, president of the Bangladesh Diabetic Association, in the chair.
Speaking on the occasion, Professor AK Azad Khan said the hospital was established to fulfill the commitment of providing trustworthy healthcare to people.
With modern technology and skilled doctors, it will become one of the country’s leading humanitarian healthcare centers, he added.
Bangladesh Diabetic Association Secretary General Md Sayef Uddin said: “The hospital will facilitate low-income people to have treatment from Comilla instead of traveling to Dhaka.”
There will be specialist doctors, modern labs and facilities in the hospital, and no one’s treatment will be stopped due to lack of money, he added.
Speakers at the event said that Comilla should have had such a hospital much before, and that need has been fulfilled today. They hoped that in the near future it would be upgraded to a 250-bed hospital and provide integrated healthcare services.
The ceremony began with observing a one-minute silence for the late ATM Shamsul Haque, former chairman of the Public Administration Reform Commission and former secretary, who had donated 125 decimals of land in his mother’s name for the hospital.
The hospital, jointly funded by the Ministry of Social Welfare and Bangladesh Diabetic Association, will provide specialized treatment to diabetic and other patients along with advanced diagnostic services.
The hospital has departments of medicine, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, nephrology, orthopedics, cardiology, neurology, ophthalmology, and dentistry, alongside facilities for echo, X-ray, ultrasonogram, color doppler, ECG, physiotherapy, and rehabilitation.
Advanced operating theaters, an eye surgery unit, 24-hour emergency services, ambulance, and pharmacy services are also available in the hospital.
