Sheohar district. North Bihar’s Sheohar district is a Naxalite affected area. Large parts of the district which has a population of just over 6.5 lakhs are poorly connected to each other. Despite such issues, the largest health unit – the District Hospital in Sheohar has only 50 beds.
The Health Manager, Sudhir Kumar, said that many patients are inconvenienced due to such a small number of beds at the hospital which sees cases from all over the district. Of the 30 beds under the Manager’s supervision, 20 beds are allotted for patients with various ailments and only 10 beds for pregnant women who come to the hospital for deliveries. He went on to add that on occasion when there are too many deliveries, some women are moved to the veranda where they set up makeshift arrangements for deliveries.
The Chief Medical Officer (C.M.O.) of Sheohar Dr. Mehendi Hasan said that the hospital is using as many beds as the premises allows them to. He said that even if there were more beds, there wouldn’t be space to lay them out. The remaining 20 beds in the hospital have been kept aside for children suffering from malnutrition and is under the purview of the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre (N.R.C.). While he admitted that the dearth of beds is a cause for concern, he also said that he had no knowledge of deliveries being done in the veranda.
Click here to read original story