The hospital opened in 2009 originally as a primary health centre providing life-saving medical care to the local Bangladeshi community and Rohingyas living in camps around Kutupalong.
Since its opening in 2009 until April 2019, the field hospital has provided 925,436 outpatient consultations, 183,682 patients with mental health consultations, and 19,602 referrals to other health facilities for secondary-level treatment, said a press release on Wednesday.
In its ten year history, out of 6502 deliveries, 65 percent of babies were local Bangladeshis, it said.
Additional Commissioner of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission Kazi Mohammad Mozammel Hoque, Health Coordinator of the RRRC Dr Abu Toha and acting Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Ukhiya Fokhrul Shumon were present.
“We mark MSF’s longstanding commitment to addressing healthcare gaps in the Kutupalong area. In the past decade, the hospital has become an important facility for patients to obtain high-quality, free of charge medical care,” says Yashovardhan, MSF’s Project Coordinator.
“Our hospital is available to anyone from the local Bangladeshi and Rohingya Refugee community. It was opened to support the local health authorities in addressing increased patient needs, following regular arrivals of Rohingya fleeing violence and exclusion in Myanmar, even before the August 2017 influx.”
In order to further bolster health facilities in Cox’s Bazar following the massive influx of Rohingya refugees in August 2017, MSF dramatically increased the services provided in the area, operating 10 health facilities, community-based healthcare, and extensive water and sanitation services.
The hospital now offers a 24-hour emergency room, outpatient services and a 100-bed inpatient facility, including a paediatric and neonatal ward, isolation beds and a diarrhoea treatment ward and continues to provide antenatal and postnatal care, family planning services, and maternity care.
“MSF is honoured to be a part of the lives of the people of Ukhiya and the Rohingya refugees. We would like to thank the local community for their continued support in keeping the hospital going. Our work would not have been possible without the support from the Bangladeshi authorities, or the tireless efforts from our talented Bangladeshi staff,” said Arunn Jegan, MSF’s Emergency Coordinator in Bangladesh.
“Until longer-term sustainable solutions for the Rohingya people are given, MSF is committed to providing essential services in Cox’s Bazar.”