Kathmandu. Minister for Health and Food Hygiene Nisha Mehta has said that the construction of the Trauma Center in Dhalkebar will not be stopped. She said that preparation was underway to operate a trauma unit at the Lahan-based Provincial Hospital for the time being as the construction of the new structure would take time.

Responding to the queries raised by lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Monday, Minister Mehta said that the process of constructing a critical care and trauma center in Dhalkebar has already started. According to him, the government has immediately forwarded the expansion of service and construction of long-term physical infrastructure simultaneously with the objective of ending the compulsion to bring the people seriously injured in road accidents to Kathmandu for treatment.

Minister Mehta said that the Trauma Unit is to be brought into operation immediately as basic infrastructure is available for the operation of trauma service at the Lahan-based Provincial Hospital. Lahan was chosen as the appropriate location for the Trauma Unit as the hospital has CT scan, required medical human resources, adequate pressure of patients and blood bank among other facilities.

“Running a trauma unit in Lahan is not an alternative to Dhalkebar. It is an interim and practical arrangement to provide immediate medical treatment to the citizens until the construction of the new structure is completed,” she said. She added that it was not a contradiction to expand health services immediately in another place when long-term health infrastructure is being constructed in one place. She said that the government’s policy is to expand trauma centers and trauma units in different parts of the country as per the need.

“Our objective is the same: to ensure timely medical treatment to the victims of accidents and to end the compulsion to travel to Kathmandu for medical treatment,” said Minister Mehta. On the occasion, Minister Mehta urged the people’s representatives and all sides concerned to help the Trauma Center in a more effective manner and to provide immediate services to the citizens from the available infrastructures in Lahan.

It is expected that the people injured in road accidents in eastern and Madhes areas will be reduced after the government made preparations to provide immediate service from Lahan by continuing the construction of the trauma centre at Dhalkebar on a long-term basis.