The government is set to launch five specialised 200-bed children’s hospitals in Khulna, Barishal, Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions, along with Cumilla district, within the next six months in a major expansion of paediatric healthcare services.
According to the Health Ministry, preparations have been completed to open the hospitals, which will feature Intensive Care Unit (ICU) services, central air-conditioning and scope for future expansion. The facilities in Barishal and Khulna are expected to begin operations by early August.
The tender process for furniture and medical equipment has already been completed, while steps are underway to recruit the required workforce. Each hospital will require 1,475 personnel to become fully operational.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has directed the Ministry of Public Administration to take necessary measures for manpower recruitment and instructed authorities to quickly operationalise unused children’s hospitals across the country.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain recently inspected the hospitals in Khulna, Barishal and Cumilla to review preparations.
During a visit to the Barishal Children's Hospital, he announced that the facility would be inaugurated on August 1 and said essential equipment, including neonatal ventilators, CT scan and X-ray machines, portable X-ray units, multiparameter cardiac monitors and phototherapy machines, would be supplied by July.
The minister said the five specialised hospitals would begin operations within six months under the Prime Minister's directive.
"These centrally air-conditioned hospitals will have ICU facilities. Tenders for furniture and equipment have already been completed," he said.
He added that adequate space had been reserved in every hospital for future expansion of critical care services and bed capacity.
Officials said emergency services would be launched first at the Barishal Children's Hospital after its opening, while efforts are also underway to operationalise the hospitals in Khulna, Cumilla, Rangpur and Rajshahi.
The Rangpur Children's Hospital is set to begin operations after remaining unused for six years despite the completion of construction. In Rajshahi, authorities plan to introduce outpatient services in the first phase, with additional services to be rolled out gradually in the next fiscal year. "BSS
