Residents of Gomtu town in Samtse are facing increasing difficulties in accessing essential healthcare services, particularly for eye, ENT, and dental care. With no specialists currently available, patients are forced to travel long distances to Samtse or Phuentshogling; a journey made more challenging by poor internal roads.
The 20-bed Gomtu Hospital, which serves over 9,000 residents, lacks critical services such as eye care, ENT, and dental treatment. This forces residents to seek care in either Samtse or Phuentshogling, both over two hours away by road. The poor condition of the internal route connecting Gomtu with Samtse and Phuentshogling further complicates access to healthcare, especially during the monsoon season.
“While we have a hospital here, it is much smaller than Samtse’s. Without an eye specialist or ENT doctor, we struggle to get timely care during emergencies,” said Lok Mani Gurung, a resident of Gomtu.
“We used to have an eye specialist and a dentist in our hospital earlier, but we don’t know where they are now. Without them, we have to visit Phuentshogling or Samtse Hospital, which is a burden for us. To make matters worse, the internal road is in very poor condition and becomes impassable during the monsoon season,” said KK Sunuwar, another resident.
“Our eye specialist and ENT doctor left for Australia, and since then, no replacements have been made. We rely on Indian routes for emergencies, but sometimes, vehicles are not easily available, making the situation even more difficult,” said Shanti Maya Rai, also a resident.
However, the Samtse district health sector has clarified that according to health policies, Gomtu Hospital does not qualify for permanent eye, ENT, or dental services.
The hospital is only eligible to have a General Duty Medical Officer or GDMO, who is responsible for providing general medical care, including for cases related to eye, ENT, and dental illnesses. The district health office acknowledged that these services were previously available when Penden Cement Authority managed the hospital.
The health sector also mentioned that they organise eye, ENT, and dental camps depending on the number of cases reported from nearby gewogs, allowing them to provide these services on an intermittent basis, though not permanently.
Gomtu Hospital currently has around 27 healthcare workers, including a GDMO, providing essential services to the local population.
Passang Dorji, Samtse
Edited by Kipchu
