Surgery for Children with Disabilities in Nepal

From Dr. Ashok Banskota’s early years in tiny, rented clinics to the “hospital on the hill” that the Hospital and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children (HRDC) has become, we have been honored to be partners in his pioneering work to heal Nepal’s most disadvantaged children. 113,000 children now have struggled into the hospital, some limping or carried on their parent’s backs. And they have walked out, ready to reclaim their childhoods.

I was walking with Dr. Ashok’s son, Bibek, also an orthopedic surgeon and now Medical Director, who started talking about HRDC being a happy place: “The patients are happy, the doctors are happy, the staff is happy.” It’s true; the children are everywhere and the halls ring with their chatter and laughter. But it’s not that way in most hospitals, so I asked him to explain:

HRDC is a happy place.

The work environment is “stressfree” because many of us who work here have been here for decades and forged long-term working relationships and friendships. This allows us to discuss differences in opinion and eliminates the possibility of conflict.

The philosophy of compassionate care as envisioned by our founder, Dr. Ashok Banskota, is at the heart of HRDC’s treatment model, and all who work here are inspired by this philosophy. This is more than just a job for us, and we are all aligned.

Everyone who works here is given the same value and importance for whatever they do, so there is a sense of wanting to do their best for the institution.

And, most importantly, the children whom we serve inspire us by their ability to smile in the face of the many adversities they face. Their smiles are contagious, and this helps us become better human beings in the process of restoring those smiles.

Many thanks for everything you do for HRDC. Friends like you who have shouldered HRDC for decades give us the security for continuity of this work.

Warm regards and respect,

Dr. Bibek Banskota