Pabna Mental Hospital is an institution that provides medicine and surgery and proper care to the mentally retarded, sick or injured people. It is the only mental hospital in Bangladesh.Dr. Mohammad Hossain Ganguly, the civil surgeon of Pabna district, established this hospital in 1957 at the Shitalai zamindar house of Pabna town, three kilometers away from Pabna city. The hospital started functioning in the year of its establishment. In the first year, there were 80 psychiatric patients admitted to the hospital. The construction of the hospital started by acquiring 111.25 acres of land for the hospital at Himaitpur village of Hemaitpur union of Sadar upazila, about 8 kilometers away from Pabna district town. The construction work was completed in 1959 and the hospital was shifted (30 acres of land has been handed over to Pabna Medical College). Most of the acquired land belonged to Thakur Anukul Chandra, a spiritual saint of Pabna.Initially, the number of beds was 60. Later, in 1966, the number of beds was increased to 150 and later to 200.The hospital was last upgraded to 500 beds in 1996. At present, five of the total 19 wards of the hospital are allocated for female patients. In the remaining 14 wards, male patients are admitted. Of the total beds, 350 are non-paying (70 are development sector) and 150 are paying (30 of them are development sector). The hospital has a total of 53 buildings, including two-storied building, outdoor department, administrative building, medicine preservation building, goods storage building, kitchen, laundry house, entertainment department, cinema hall, handicraft building, handloom building, residential building for officers and employees and cottages.There is a sound system in each room for listening to music in the patients’ rooms. There is a facility to watch television. In addition, 107 closed-circuit cameras have been installed to monitor the surroundings of the hospital. A total of 48 solar lights have been installed so that the hospital does not remain in darkness during load shedding. There is a plan to install two solar lights in each ward. Work has been started to build a library for patients.There is a small park for female patients to spend a beautiful vacation and a court for playing handball. Apart from this, indoor patients are taught handwork, read regular newspapers.Despite the various problems including manpower crisis, this hospital is unique in mental healthcare. Still, entering the green courtyard of this hospital in a huge corridor brings life to life.
Translated by: Ananyo Haider, European University of Bangladesh.
