Bangabandhu Memorial Hospital

Entrance of Bangabandhu Memorial Hospital and USTC

Bangabandhu Memorial Hospital (BBMH) is the largest private hospital in Chittagong, Bangladesh. With 220 beds and 15 wards, it serves between 700 and 1,000 patients per day, about three-quarters of them as outpatients. ^[1] Established in 1994 ^[2] on the campus of the University of Science and Technology, Chittagong (USTC), it is run by the university and serves as the teaching hospital for its medical school, the Institute of Applied Health Science (IAHS). ^{[3] [4]} It is classified as one of the country's 23 "referral" hospitals, generally meaning one to which patients are referred by other healthcare entities because it is better equipped and employs medical specialists. ^{[5] [6]}

History

A study conducted in 2012 found that the hospital sometimes burns untreated medical waste or mixes it with general waste and disposes of it in nearby Chittagong City Corporation dustbins. ^[1] In 2013, the Department of Environment fined the hospital BDT 4,550,000 (US$58,700) for polluting the environment with liquid waste. ^[2]

Protests by teachers, doctors, and other employees of the university over pay, work rules, and mismanagement, forced the suspension of all hospital services (other than emergency care) for four hours every day for three months in 2014. ^{[7] [8]} Protests by Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students closed the hospital again in 2017 over the refusal of the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BM&DC) to register USTC graduates to practice medicine in Bangladesh. The refusal came because USTC violated admission rules by enrolling 410 MBBS students in the 2011-12 batch, 414 in the 2012-13 batch, and 280 in the 2013-14 batch, when they were only authorized by the government to admit about 100 per batch. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

The hospital is currently constructing a 500-bed extension. ^[12]

References

1. Alam, Ohidul; Hossain, Mosharraf Mosharraf (10–12 February 2013). A Comparative Study on the Differences between Public and Private Healthcare Entities in Healthcare Waste Management in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Proceedings of the WasteSafe 2013 – 3rd International Conference on Solid Waste Management in the Developing Countries. Khulna, Bangladesh. pp. 1–9. ISBN   978-984-33-7045-7. SSRN   2746570.
2. "USTC hospital fined Tk 45 lakh for pollution". The Daily Star. 25 December 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
3. Tusher, Hasan Jahid (27 April 2005). "An institute with a vision: USTC produces good professionals". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 1 May 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
4. "List of Recognized medical and dental colleges". Bangladesh Medical & Dental Council.
5. "Referral hospitals to go under NBR scanner". The Independent. Dhaka. UNB. 1 August 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
6. Mala, Doulot Akter (10 July 2016). "NBR scraps duty-free import facility for referral hospitals". The Financial Express. Dhaka. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
7. "Deadlock at USTC yet to be solved on 4th day". The New Nation. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
8. "USTC deadlock continues". The New Nation. 19 July 2014.
9. "USTC student's demo continues for registration". New Age. Dhaka. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
10. Dastider, Pankaj (11 February 2017). "1,104 students of three batches get permission for BMDC registration". The Financial Express. Dhaka. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
11. "USTC students threaten to lock all departments". Daily Sun. Dhaka. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
12. "Other Facilities". University of Science & Technology Chittagong.

22°21′41″N91°47′51″E / 22.3614°N 91.7974°E / 22.3614; 91.7974