The new extension of the Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barisal will finally see the light of day as the construction work of the much-awaited building has started once again, after six long years.

Once completed, the 500-bed extension building will ease many of the predicaments the hospital is facing at present, said Dr Abdul Kader, director of the hospital. “But most importantly, we will be able to accommodate more patients.”

Among many of the problems that have plagued the hospital, shortage of beds remains as the main obstacle to provide proper health care services to the patients, said Shikha Saha, head of the hospital's gynaecology department.

The 500-bed hospital started its journey in 1968.

Around 1,700 to 2,000 patients are admitted to the hospital on any given day, according to its administrative department. Another 4,000 to 5,000 patients are also treated at the emergency and outdoor departments on a daily basis.

But due to an acute shortage of beds, patients lying on the floors in front of the wards or desperately searching for space on the corridors have become a regular scenario at the hospital.

Years went by; nothing seemed to have changed while the patients' continued to suffer.

Finally, in 2007, the health ministry approved the construction of a seven-storied extension building to ease the crisis.

In addition, the blue print of the new extension building also mentioned that it would consist of two intensive care units (ICU), four new coronary care units (CCU), 10 operation theatres and two post operative rooms.

In October 2007, the Public Works Department (PWD) in Barisal floated an open tender in this regard. Azad Construction and Markentile Corporation were jointly awarded the project with a budget of Tk 25 crore.

According to PWD documents, the project was scheduled to be finished and handed over to the hospital authorities by June 2010.

But, the contractors appealed to the hospital authorities for an extension and they extended it for one and a half year, said the PWD authorities.

As a consequence of the delay, the hospital is facing difficulties in dealing with the increasing rush of patients, said administrative officials at the hospital.

So, in a bid to finish the project quickly, the PWD then revised the building design and decided to construct a five-storied building instead of a seven-storied one. It also cut the project cost by Tk 5 crore.

Even after that, in 2011, the contractors appealed to the PWD to revise the project, citing that their construction cost has increased.

However, PWD rejected the application. Also, the tender agreement with the contractors was cancelled in 2012. The contractors then filed a petition with the High Court against the cancellation. The HC rejected it in 2015.

This correspondent tried to contact the authorities of Azad Construction and Markentile Corporation numerous times, but they could not be reached for comments.

Since the cancellation of the agreement, the construction work of the building, which was completed almost 60 percent by then, had been stopped for an indefinite period.

Following the work suspension, The Daily Star had also run stories on the issue highlighting patients' sufferings.

Eventually, in 2013, the health ministry decided to set up an additional 500 beds at the hospital's existing building.

“But nothing really changed for us. Due to the shortage of space at the existing building, we are still running with around 500 beds…,” said Dr Abdul Kader, the director of the hospital.

Finally, in July last year, Health Minister Mohammed Nasim announced that the work will resume within six months.

Contacted, Ripon Kumar Roy, the executive engineer of PWD, said, “The project has resumed under a fresh tender of Tk 8.10 crore. It will be finished by March next year.”

While visiting the construction site yesterday, this correspondent saw that the work was going on in full swing.

Rezaul Karim, director of the contractor firm Kohinoor Enterprise, said the construction work will be finished by August this year, almost six months ahead of the stipulated time.