ZH Sikder Women’s Medical College and Hospital’s Gulshan branch has commenced operation as a coronavirus or COVID-19-dedicated hospital.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque officially inaugurated the hospital as the chief guest on Saturday.
The hospital is offering 20 percent discount on all coronavirus-related medical treatment for journalists, doctors, nurses, health workers, police personnel, government officials and others working to combat the disease from the front.
In his speech, the minister said Sikder Group is a pioneer in the field of medical services in Bangladesh. “This is a good news for us that Sikder Group has stepped forward to deal with the corona crisis.”
Mentioning that the hospital has been providing good medical treatment for the last 20 years, he said, “I am hopeful that they will keep their reputation intact with the COVID-19 treatment facilities.”
The minister said the coronavirus-related death rate in Bangladesh is lower than the global average thanks to several steps the government has taken as per the directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Sikder Group management said the 50-bed COVID-19-dedicated hospital has experienced doctors, nurses and state-of-the-art equipment from home and abroad.
In addition to a separate unit for corona sample collection and isolation wards, there are 21 new CCU and ICU beds, PCR labs, ventilators, nebuliser machines, cardiac monitors, portable digital X-ray machines, CT scan, ECG, echo and MRI machines, cabins and modern ward amenities.
Sikder Group Director and Member of Parliament Parveen Haque Sikder presided over the inaugural function.
She said, “Today is a special day for Sikder Group. We have got the opportunity to serve the people once again. My father, Zainul Haque Sikder, Chairman of Sikder Group, wrote to the government at the very beginning of the corona crisis that the government could use all our hospitals as needed.”
“Despite some delays, today we have started the journey to provide services to corona patients. We are proud and happy to be able to do something for the people of Bangladesh alongside our Honourable
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” she added.
Director General of the Directorate General of Health Service Prof Dr Abul Kalam Azad was present as the special guest at the inaugural function.
He expressed his gratitude to the Sikder Group for coming forward with the cooperation that was most urgent for the country during the present time of crisis.
“I believe that Sikdar Group will take us a long way in dealing with this corona crisis,” he said.
Zainul Haque Sikder Women’s Medical College and Hospital is the most reliable and trustworthy institution in the medical sector of the country. The name of the organisation is associated with many of the first in the medical services sector in Bangladesh.
In 1992, Sikder Group established separate women’s medical college to ensure the medical education for girls. The group has to its credit the first-ever heart treatment and the first successful open heart surgery in the country.
The second branch of the medical college hospital was established in 2000 at Gulshan. In response to the corona pandemic, the second hospital was made fully suitable for the treatment of COVID-19 disease at the call of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The director of the hospital, the director of the health department (hospital) and representatives of the relevant government and non-government organisations of the health and medical sector attended the inaugural ceremony held at the Gulshan branch of the hospital.
The coronavirus-dedicated hospital has been developed at the initiative of Sikder Group Director Ron Haque Sikder, but he could not grace the inaugural ceremony as he is outside the country for medical treatment.