Government plans to build a 1,000-bed hospital in Nilphamari

The government on Sunday approved a major healthcare infrastructure project worth Tk 2,459.34 crore to establish a 1,000-bed Bangladesh-China Friendship General Hospital in Nilphamari.

The approval came from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), with the aim of providing modern and specialised medical services to people in northern Bangladesh while easing pressure on hospitals in Dhaka and Rangpur.

The project, titled “Establishment of a 1,000-bed Bangladesh-China Friendship General Hospital”, will be implemented in Nilphamari Sadar upazila under Rangpur division from January 2026 to December 2029.

Of the total cost, Tk 179.27 crore will be financed from government funds, while Tk 2,280.07 crore will come from external sources, primarily through financial and technical assistance from the Chinese government.

Planning Commission officials said the hospital will offer integrated general and specialised services, including nephrology, cardiology, oncology and neurology, enabling effective treatment of complex and long-term diseases for people in the region.

Briefing reporters after the ECNEC meeting, Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud described the project as a strategic and timely initiative. He said the proposal emerged from high-level discussions during the Chief Adviser’s recent visit to China, where Beijing expressed interest in supporting the construction of a modern hospital in Bangladesh.

Dr Mahmud clarified that the decision to locate the hospital in Nilphamari was taken by Bangladesh as part of a broader decentralisation strategy to shift major national facilities away from Dhaka.

“If genuine decentralisation is to be achieved, advanced institutions—whether hospitals, universities or technology centres—must be established outside the capital,” he said.

He added that Nilphamari’s location in the poverty-prone Rangpur region and the nearby Syedpur Airport made it a strategic choice. Given the planned standard of care, he expressed hope that the hospital could also attract patients from neighbouring countries.

The facility will be equipped with modern emergency services, ICU, CCU and HDU units, advanced diagnostic systems and state-of-the-art operation theatres. It will also support medical research, training and human resource development, strengthening the country’s overall healthcare capacity.

The project includes a 10-storey main hospital building, residential facilities for doctors, nurses and staff, a mosque, kitchen, waste management plant, service buildings, helipad, automated ambulance system and modern gas and power facilities.

Officials noted that Nilphamari, with a population of about 2.1 million, currently relies on a 250-bed district hospital and limited upazila-level facilities, which lack adequate ICU, dialysis, cancer, cardiac and neuro-emergency services. As a result, critically ill patients are often referred to Rangpur or Dhaka, leading to delays, higher costs and increased risks.

They believe the new hospital will function as a sustainable tertiary-level healthcare institution, significantly reducing regional disparities and ensuring timely, quality and life-saving medical services for millions in northern Bangladesh.