No doctors for hospitals: Healthworker recruitment hits a roadblock in Nepal

Before the second wave of Covid-19 started in Nepal, the Tikapur Hospital in Kailali procured seven ventilators. But, with a few health workers and doctors available to operate the ventilators and provide critical care, many of those infected who came to the hospital lost their lives. As of May 2021, 46 people died at the hospital due to the disease.

“We had the equipment but couldn’t find the doctors to operate them. Many couldn’t be saved due to a lack of human resources to operate ventilators,” says Deepak Rawal, the hospital chairman.