KATHMANDU: The ‘Grande City Hospital’ in the country’s capital Kathmandu has been operating without registration for the past seven years.

Although the concerned regulatory bodies are aware of the hospital operating without registration, no initiative has been taken to bring it under the purview of the law.

The Department of Health Services, Medical Services Division sought details of the hospital after a complaint was lodged demanding to bring the hospital under the ambit of law six months ago.

The Division wrote a letter to Grande City Hospital on July 15 and directed it to send a certificate obtained from the regulatory authority within three days. But the hospital has not sent any reply. The letter of the department has been ignored till now. So far, the hospital administration has not contacted the department.

It is said that the hospital operator did not sign any agreement while operating the hospital and has been delaying the rent for days. Stakeholders have not been able to bring the hospital running without registration and complete the legal process.

The Division had written a letter to the Province Health Directorate of the Ministry of Social Development of Bagmati on July 10 asking about the registration process of the hospital.

Immediately after that, the Bagmati Provincial Health Directorate wrote a letter on July 23 to the District Health Office, Kathmandu and asked about the registration process of the hospital.

When District Health Office, Kathmandu, investigated the issue it found that the Grande City Hospital was not registered. After that, the Division formed a probe committee to find more and take due action.

But even after five months of the formation of the probe committee, no substantive progress has been made in the direction.

The landlord of Grande City Hospital has complained that the Kantipath-based hospital which has been running without registration has been living in Jyoti Bhawan without paying rent.

Meanwhile, when inquired about the progress made in the probe the Head of the Treatment Division Ramesh Kharel replied that the work has been stopped due to the transfer of staff.

“The previous director of the department got transferred whereas the new one has not come yet,” Kharel told Khabarhub, “So the work got stuck in the process.”

This is how the hospital was started

Grande City Hospital at Jyoti Bhawan, Kantipath came into operation as a branch of Grande International Hospital, Dhapasi in 2013. Due to differences among the operators, the branch hospital in Kantipath started operating under the name ‘Grande City Hospital’ only.

While trying to get information from the hospital administration regarding the complaint that Grande City Hospital was not registered with any authority, there was no information available.

The landlord of Grande City Hospital has complained that the Kantipath-based hospital which has been running without registration has been living in Jyoti Bhawan without paying rent.

It is said that the hospital operator did not sign any agreement while operating the hospital and has been delaying the rent for days. Stakeholders have not been able to bring the hospital running without registration and complete the legal process.

The negligence on the part of the regulatory authority of health institutions directly related to human health has raised concerns about the usefulness of such a regulatory body.