Feni sadar hospital overwhelmed by patients with water-borne disease

Feni 250 Bed District Sadar Hospital is struggling to cope with a sharp rise in patients suffering from water-borne diseases due to the ongoing floods in the district.
Patients are being treated on the hospital premises and even on the floors of the administration building, as the 18-bed diarrhoea ward has become overcrowded, reports our correspondent.
At 3:00pm yesterday, the hospital grounds were packed with patients. Many had settled on the open field, using mattresses, as there was no room inside the dedicated diarrhea ward.
According to hospital data, 210 patients were admitted to the ward as of this morning, far exceeding its capacity.
During a visit to the hospital, this correspondent observed staffers treating patients on the open field in front of the diarrhoea ward.
Nasima Akhtar, a resident of the Lalpool area in Feni, had been at the hospital with her two-year-old daughter, Rabeya Sultana, since yesterday morning.
Due to the lack of available beds, her daughter was treated on the field.
“When I arrived, the ward was already full of patients. I had to find a mattress and settle on the field to get my daughter treated,” she said.
To handle the influx of patients, many of whom came from flood-affected areas, the hospital authorities converted the sixth floor of a new building — despite lacking elevator access — into a temporary diarrhoea ward.
However, the hospital is facing severe challenges in providing basic care due to shortages of manpower and medicine.
Roksana Akter, a resident of Kashimpur in Sadar Upazila, has been at the hospital with her five-month-old son, Fahim, since yesterday.
“We are not getting the treatment we need,” she said.
Sabita Roy, a nurse at the ward, acknowledged that the staffers are struggling to provide proper care.
“The crisis has put us in a difficult situation,” she said.
Abul Khair Miajee, superintendent of Feni 250 bed District Sadar Hospital, told The Daily Star that patients have already been moved to a temporary ward.
“The number of patients has far surpassed our capacity, but we are doing our best to treat them with dedication despite the severe crisis,” he said