A modern hospital for poor

It is a modern 250-bed hospital situated in the posh Dhanmondi area of the city.
The hospital's very location can be scary to the poor who can hardly afford exorbitant healthcare costs in the city.
In fact, the Gonoshasthya Nagar Hospital has broken a new ground in offering healthcare to people from all walks of life.
From street beggars to domestic aids and from petty clerks to top executives, the healthcare system at Gonoshasthya covers all.
Monwara Begum, 50, came from Munshiganj with severe rheumatism. She said she had taken up the insurance policy nearly a year ago for Tk 100 that might have saved her from misery. The insurance has enabled her to get proper treatment at a cost her family could afford.
"A session of physiotherapy costs me only Tk 120. Thanks to the doctors and nurses I am able to walk again," she said.
"The main feature here is the health insurance system where the poor can easily get the health services by taking up a yearly health insurance book each paying Tk 100," said Assistant Director and Registrar Dr Gour Gopal Saha.
"The subsidy given to the poor is recovered from the rich patients who pay Tk 2,500 each for the same period," he added.
"Can you think of a normal delivery of a baby in the country covering hospitalisation, consultancy and other aspects for only Tk 500? We do it here," said Saha.
But the Gonoshasthya's seemingly noble scheme to provide healthcare for all has failed to move the rich section of the society. Its officials admitted the meager number of registered members from the affluent part of the society is not reflective to the cause for which the hospital was created.
"The notion that expensive is good is very much prevalent in our society, I think that is why we are lagging behind with the rich section," said an official.
Shah Alam was found lying at a bed after his appendix surgery. The man aged around 25 who works at a plastic industry at Chakbazar said he came to the hospital with extreme pain.
"Within half an hour of my arrival here they operated on me. I cannot think what would have happened to me if I landed at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital near my house," said Shah Alam. "It is both affordable and reliable."
The hospital also lacks modern equipment for diagnosis. Dr Saha said although they lack modern machineries like the MRI and CT Scan and are unable to perform certain cardiac surgeries, the motto is to provide equal treatment irrespective of rich and poor.
"The system categorises people at six different social levels and the fees are charged accordingly. But we strictly try to maintain the same quality of treatment for all categories of people," said Dr Mohammad Shawkat Ali, department of forensic medicine.
For the poorest category of patients, all pathological tests and consultation of doctors are free of charge while all medicines for the same group are sold at 50 percent discount.
"This is why a rickshaw puller can avail any type of treatment and operation for roughly Tk 300," said Dr Ali, also the coordinator of Rickshaw and Van puller Family Project.
For the general patients, Gonoshasthya has introduced packages such as cataract surgery at Tk 3,500. The most attractive of the packages is for the mom-to-be. For Tk 2,500 a pregnant mother receives medical care from the day she tests positive till a month after her delivery.
"This is the third time I have come to this hospital for delivery because I find quality service at a very reasonable price here. My two sons were also born here five and six years ago," said Selina Begum from Mirpur area.
The founders of the Bangladesh Field Hospital during the country's war of liberation in 1971 took the initiative of the Gonoshasthya Kendra. It started its community based health activities at Savar in 1972 and later in 1996 shifted to Dhanmondi.