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Post |
| peda |
Posted
on 23-Nov-03 10:04 AM
This News was Posted on: 2003-11-22 21:49:21
You are reading: The Kathmandu Post >> Front Page
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A marked man after 16 years of healing wounds
BY SUVECHA PANT & MANISH GAUTAM
KATHMANDU, Nov 22 - He first came to Nepal in 1986 for six months but extended it for a year. That wasn’t enough, he felt.
Sixteen winters have passed and he is still in Nepal, having served as a medical doctor and treated several thousand patients.
Sadly, Dr Mark Zimmerman, Managing Director of Patan Hospital, will have to leave Nepal on Tuesday, that too against his wish, due to Nepal’s new visa regulations.
The new policy of the government does not allow a foreign national to stay in the country for more than 10 years or above the age of 65. And, Dr Zimmerman disqualifies to stay after Tuesday on both criteria.
However, the physician still has hopes. "I won’t lose hope till the last minute," he said.
Even if the visa is not extended, I will stay here for a month on tourist visa and leave the country," he said, adding, "But, we hope to stay in Nepal because the country needs hospital services."
No career opportunities match the love I have received from the Nepali people, he said.
Along with the Patan Hospital, three other hospitals are managed by the United Missions to Nepal (UMN), making them the largest health care provider in the country after the government.
In Patan, a memorandum of understanding was signed between UMN and the government to give 24 seats to foreigners. However, at present only eight have been allocated seats. Of them, the visas of five will expire by Tuesday.
Of the five, three are above the age of 65 and two have stayed in Nepal for 10 years. Apart from Dr Zimmerman, the others are an administrative officer, OPD senior consultant, Head of Pharmacy and Patient counsellor.
A year ago when the Ministry announced the policy, UMN sent a letter requesting for extension of visa for the medical professionals and it was duly accepted. However, this time round the government rejected the plea.
Dr Beni Bahadur Karki, spokesperson at the Ministry of Health, said that the policy was introduced because foreign medical staff would ‘influence’ internal politics and policies in the country.
When asked on the case of Dr Zimmerman, he said the Ministry had considered him as a special case a few days ago. But, he said he had no knowledge on the decision as he was out of station.
"Throughout my career I have worked here. This is my family. I can’t just leave them," the doctor said.
The medical staff of Patan Hospital are also sad on the possibility of Dr Zimmerman leaving them.
"He has worked committedly day and night here for many years. We will miss him," said Dr Raju Maharjun. Similarly, Dr Nirdaya Sharma, said the management of the hospital would suffer. "He has provided services to people from all over Nepal," he said.
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| mickthesick |
Posted
on 23-Nov-03 01:24 PM
..after reading this article I have developed dislikeness towards Dr Beni Bahadur Karki......or let me put it straight.....I have started "hating" him.
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| Biruwa |
Posted
on 23-Nov-03 01:50 PM
Nirdaya Sharma? really? Nirdaya?
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| prawin |
Posted
on 23-Nov-03 02:14 PM
this is a sad case of the government making absurd and contradicting laws that don't have a rational grounding. the journalists who wrote the piece fail to investigate the rationale behind such a law, and that marks them as incompetent. how can a reader contemplate upon the issue if an entire limb of it missing?
doesn't 10 years of residence qualify Dr Zimmerman for Nepali citizenship [and isn't it unfair to force a choice unto him]? in any case, when the country is loosing young and inexperienced professionals to other job markets, why does the government want to rid the nation of experienced professionals?
it is unfortunate that Nepali officials make use of the internet only to apply for a Diversity Visa. if someone involved in making sucha n absurd law without discussing its rationale through a public medium were to frequent this site, we could have posed the question before them directly.
perhaps a few websites like sajha.com can band together to form a coalition that will forward such questions to the concerned authority, and post their replies [or refusals to do so] in the internet.
if we [the web users] discuss an issue of importance, the outcome of such discussions--the varying points of view, varying explainations people offer--should be taken to the concerned authorities. arguments cannot be settled outside the system.
or we are all reduced to egomaniacal babblers who have no consequence upon issues that occupy them.
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| Shiva Gautam |
Posted
on 23-Nov-03 02:53 PM
Only two days ago I wrote an e-mail to Mark offering my help to Patan Hospital. I was briefly met him at a meeting about a couple of years ago in Dhulikhel when I went there to teach medical students. The meeting was about the possibility of Patan Hospital being one of the teaching hospitals of Kathmandu University Medical School (KUMS). The meeting was headed by VC of Kathmandu University. Mark and I have been in some common e-mail list and he seems to be a nice man dedicated to improving Nepalis’ health.
I knew there were some problems with his visa but thought that was taken care of. It is perhaps beyond Dr. Benu B Karki whom I know since I was a child.
There was rift between Kathmandu University administration and the team( mostly physicians) managing Kathmndu University Medical School. The university administration signed 50 year contracts with Dhulikhel and BB hospital without letting the team know. (and while actively negotiating with Patan hospital) KUMS team thought that Patan H is perhaps the most suitable teaching hospitals in terms of the requirements of a modern teaching hospital. KU administration thought otherwise. A Harvard professor flew to Nepal in a private jet plane offered by an industrialist to salvage the situation. This professor has been sending Harvard volunteer to teach basic science to KUMS. Also because of this we lost about 25 million dollars for hospital construction and maintenance. But it did not work, and the whole team resigned. I was told the team was looking for starting another medical school with the help of Patan hospital. .By evicting Mark from the country wil be another blow to a team of young physycian who have dreamt doing something radical in serving the people. I suspect there is something ‘black in the lintel’ (Daal me kaalaa) and some force is behind this , but do not know for fact.
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| Bhunte |
Posted
on 23-Nov-03 04:30 PM
Bad Beaurocracy!!!
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| Robert Frost |
Posted
on 23-Nov-03 05:40 PM
salute to the narrow minded mr. karki....!! WELL DONE!!!!
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 23-Nov-03 07:15 PM
I had spent some days in Patan Hospital this summer. Despite the lack of resources, the hospital was in a reasonably good shape. A doctor had recently published in JAMA about the effects of altitude sickness. Other Nepali doctors were also selected from a pool of intelligent individuals.
When I asked some of the doctors some questions about the causes of death among the patients, they were able to tell me with analytical perfection. One of the Nepali doctors I had talked to had a degree from a medical school in New York, Buffalo(?). He was a charming individual. While some of the doctors there still assumed an air of being a doctor, and treated their patients with less than the perfect respect, others were very considerate of their patients and their apprehensive relatives/attendants.
When I was there, hospitals in the valley were facing problems because of disruption of communication because of the huge rain that destroyed Prithvi Rajmarg. Lack of oxygen was one of major problems those days.The doctors then complained about the administration that didn't understand the urgency of medical world.
The major thing that was common among those doctors in Patan Hospital, what I deducted from my informal talks with them, was their respect for Dr Mark for his dedicated service and their dislike of Dr Upendra Devkota for his "I-am-the-only-omniscient-guy" attitude and the fact that he tinkered with a heart facility center in Bir Hospital.
Dr Shiva Gautam's posting above corroborate the fact that our governing bodies are blinkered entities and their actions are motivated by ulterior motives rather than welfare of people of Nepal. It would be real shame if we ask those aliens who served Nepal all their life leave in disgrace when they are old.
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