Nothing seems to be working for Upazila Health Complex in Khaliajuri of Netrakona.

Only five out of the 15 allocated doctors now serve around 300 people every day at the outpatient services of the 31-bed hospital that does not have any clinical diagnostic laboratory.

The operation theatre has been collecting dust over the past for 20 years as technicians as well as the hospital's specialised physician positions such as surgeon, anaesthetist, gynaecologist and medicine specialist had gone unfilled.  

The posts of a resident medical officer, a dental surgeon, a medical officer, two medical assistants, two lab technicians and a radiographer have also been vacant for a while now, said Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer Ataul Ghani Osmani.

There are 20 posts for nurses in the 130-member staff assigned for the medical facility. But presently, 16 nurses are in service and four among them are on deputation, he added.

There is no blood bank at the facility and its lone X-Ray machine, installed 10 years ago, is turning into junk without any technician to operate it.

The health complex could be a blessing for thousands of impoverished people in the upazila that largely remains inaccessible most of the year due to a number of haors (wetlands).

But without much of the essential services and diagnostics unavailable at the healthcare facility, they are being compelled to spend an additional Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,500 in transport cost for availing medical services at Netrakona General Hospital, said Nazim Uddin Sarker, former chairman of Krishnapur Union Parishad in the upazila. 

Sufferings are inexplicable when a critical patient or a mother-to-be has to be taken all the way to the district hospital for critical care or for childbirth, he added.     

The Khaliajuri health complex needs to be made fully functional for the sake of the haor people who are helpless without any private medical facility or diagnostic centre in the upazila, said Mohsin Mia, a local journalist.

Contacted, Netrakona Civil Surgeon Selim Miah said expectant mothers from dirt poor families are especially at risk, as they cannot afford to go to the district hospital for their childbirth. However, critical patients can avail the water ambulance service of the Khaliajuri health complex to reach the district hospital during the monsoon.

On how to make the hospital in Khaliajuri more attractive to health professionals, he said a special allowance specifically for serving in haor areas might be one way to attract the health professionals.