Chattogram's CRB Railway Hospital to become a 100-bed general hospital under Health Ministry
The Railway Hospital at CRB in Chattogram city is set to be brought under the Ministry of Health and converted into a modern 100-bed general hospital. Once implemented, the initiative will widen the reach of public healthcare for city residents.
The important decision was taken at a meeting between Health Minister Sardar Sakhawat Hossain Bakul and Chattogram City Corporation Administrator Dr Shahadat Hossain at the minister's residence on Mintu Road in Dhaka.
A Chattogram City Corporation press release said the meeting discussed a plan to convert the Railway Hospital into a full-fledged general hospital using its existing infrastructure and capacity. If run under the Health Ministry, the hospital would be able to expand modern treatment facilities, increase bed numbers and ensure healthcare for the public by recruiting the necessary doctors, nurses and health workers.
The meeting also gave importance to healthcare for workers in industrial areas. To that end, it discussed plans to establish a hospital for workers in the Sitakunda area and a trauma centre to ensure quick treatment for people injured in road accidents. A plan to establish six hospitals to expand workers' healthcare also came up at the meeting.
Chattogram is one of the country's most important port cities and commercial centres. Against rising treatment demand from the city's growing population and surrounding areas, patient pressure on public hospitals is considerable. Those involved in the meeting believe that, in this context, converting the Railway Hospital will particularly help ordinary and low-income people access treatment more easily.
