Many more people in a remote area of western Nepal will receive quality healthcare after a Christian mission hospital has been saved from permanent closure.
At a time of transition for the country politically, the Nepali government and the BMS-supported Christian organisation Human Development and Community Services (HDCS) have signed a partnership agreement to ensure Dadeldhura Hospital in the far west of Nepal continues it work.
BMS' Ian Chadwell, a management advisor for HDCS, says this decision is a real answer to prayer after the hospital had been closed for three months, leaving its future in limbo.
"We are thankful to God that the prayers of many have been answered and HDCS - this small Nepali Christian organisation - has another opportunity to demonstrate God's love in practical ways."
Ian and his colleagues are especially excited that HDCS has been invited to merge Dadeldhura with the existing government district hospital to make a single facility for the district, which is home to about 125,000 people.
This positive decision will also help to keep local workers in employment - around 40 staff at the hospital had lost their jobs since its temporary closure. In such a remote, rural area, the chances of them finding another job locally are very slender.
The situation at Dadeldhura Hospital is symptomatic of the political deadlock in Nepal in the run-up to planned elections next month.
The interim government is made up of representatives from different parties with radically different agendas and this has led to a lack of clear direction. This is likely to impact HDCS' involvement in other hospitals this year.
HDCS has been in existence since 1991 and has been working in several rural communities since. It runs four hospitals in Nepal, including one in Lamjung, which has around 38,000 outpatients a year and is described by groups such as the World Bank as a "model district hospital".
Ian Chadwell, who lives in Nepal with his wife Cynthia and their two children Justin and Lucy, recruits staff from Nepal and overseas for the hospitals.
He says: "Probably the single greatest challenge the hospitals face is having enough properly qualified staff, especially doctors. You can have all the latest equipment and facilities, but without the right staff, you cannot do anything worthwhile."
If you have medical skills you can offer to mission work in Nepal or elsewhere in the world, or if you want to go overseas with BMS on a medical elective, get in touch with us.
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