Flood: Dialysis services at Feni General Hospital remain suspended for 3 weeks

Dialysis services at Feni General Hospital, a 250-bed facility, have been suspended for 21 days since the ground floor of the hospital was submerged due to recent flooding, causing woes to patients suffering from kidney problems.

While most services have resumed after the floodwaters receded, the hemodialysis unit remains closed, leaving patients who rely on regular dialysis treatments in distress.

Currently, there are only four private clinics in the city offering dialysis services, but the costs are significantly higher than at the government hospital.

Many patients from poorer and lower-income backgrounds who depend on the hospital for affordable care are now facing severe challenges. Two patients have already died reportedly due to the unavailability of the service.

Visiting the hospital on 9 September, the correspondent found the hemodialysis unit closed. Several patients who came for their dialysis sessions had to leave without treatment.

Resident medical officer (RMO) Asif Iqbal could not provide a specific timeline for the reopening of the unit, stating that the motor and some equipment are being repaired in Dhaka and will be returned once fixed.

Mostafizur Rahman, a patient, said private dialysis services are 5-6 times more expensive than at government facilities.

“With the hospital unit closed, private clinics are exploiting the situation to charge exorbitant fees. Many patients who had deposited Tk 22,000 for six months of treatment at the hospital are not receiving the services they paid for.”

A certain Fahima Akter Bithi, from Mirzanagar Union of Parshuram upazila, said  her husband, who has been suffering from kidney failure, cannot afford the high costs of private dialysis.

“He had been receiving treatment at Feni General Hospital, but following the flood, the hospital relocated the dialysis equipment and has yet to resume services,” she said.

Feni General Hospital serves as a critical resource for residents of six upazilas in Feni district and nearby areas including Khagrachhari, Mirsharai  and Sitakunda in Chattogram, Bashurhat in Noakhali, Senbagh, and Chauddagram in Cumilla.

The hospital currently serves 210 kidney patients, with about 500 applications pending. The situation is dire, as each patient’s death creates a vacancy in the dialysis queue.

Joydeb Saha, head of the kidney dialysis department, said that kidney patients require dialysis approximately twice a week. Failure to receive timely treatment can lead to severe health complications or death, he said.

Md. Asif Iqbal, RMO of Feni General Hospital, said the ground floor has been completely submerged due to the flood. Consequently, only emergency services are being operated from the second floor. As the scanning and dialysis departments are on the ground floor, services cannot yet be resumed.

He expressed hope that all services will be restored soon.

Efforts to reach the hospital’s supervisor, Abul Khayer Miah, were unsuccessful.

Deputy commissioner Shahina Akhter has been informed of the situation.

The dialysis unit at the hospital was initially established in February 2020 with six beds and then upgraded to 10 beds to meet growing demand, providing dialysis for 30 patients daily in three shifts, supported by nine nurses and additional medical staff.