A new 500-bed building at the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital in Dhaka is scheduled to open on Saturday, August 15. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is expected to inaugurate the facility at 10am, according to hospital officials. Once operational, the addition will raise the hospital’s total capacity to 1,000 beds, making it the country’s largest specialised centre for neurological treatment.

The 15-storey NINS Unit-2 building has three basement floors and is fully centrally air-conditioned. Its upper 12 floors include wards, operating theatres and diagnostic units. The facility contains 40 ICU beds, 24 post-operative beds, 112 cabins, a 20-bed HDU, 62 ventilators, one cath lab, two MRE machines and two CT scanners.

A 100-bed specialised trauma unit will serve patients with brain and spinal injuries from road crashes and other accidents, with round-the-clock operating-theatre services. Director Professor Dr Mohammad Nuruzzaman Khan said bed shortages currently force the hospital to turn away many patients because admissions beyond available beds are not allowed. He said the new building would enable the hospital to provide care to more patients.