After nine months of unpaid service by 130 staff, including 30 doctors, the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) at the 250-bed Cox’s Bazar District Sadar Hospital was officially closed on May 8 due to a prolonged manpower and financial crisis. The hospital had previously notified higher authorities on May 5, but with no sustainable support, the closure became inevitable. The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is also at risk of imminent shutdown, operating solely through the unpaid dedication of remaining staff.
The crisis stems from the expiration of the World Bank-supported Health and Gender Support Project (HGSP) in September 2024, which had funded critical staff and services amid the pressures of a growing local population, over 1.4 million Rohingya refugees, and increasing tourism. Despite initial hopes for a new project through the international organization ISO, bureaucratic delays have left the hospital without resources to sustain specialized departments.
Currently, the hospital faces overwhelming patient volumes with minimal staff—only three doctors handle up to 1,000 daily emergency visits. Local leaders, including Cox’s Bazar Chamber of Commerce President Abu Morshed Chowdhury Khoka, stress the urgent need for the long-promised 500-bed Cox’s Bazar Government Medical College and Hospital. Fourteen years after its proposed establishment, the absence of this institution continues to cripple critical healthcare access in one of Bangladesh’s most vulnerable and visited regions.
