Paropakar Maternity Hospital Partners KIOCH For Affordable, Specialized Newborn Care
27th June 2026, Kathmandu
In a breakthrough for neonatal healthcare in Nepal, the Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital (Prasuti Griha) and the Kathmandu Institute of Child Health (KIOCH) have officially signed a bilateral agreement.
Paropakar Maternity Hospital Partners KIOCH
This partnership aims to provide timely, high-quality, and specialized medical services to newborns who require critical care.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Dr. Bhagawan Koirala, Chairman of KIOCH and a senior pediatric cardiologist, and Dr. Shri Prasad Adhikari, Director of Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital.
Overcoming the Crisis of NICU Beds and Specialized Referrals
As one of the busiest maternity hospitals in the country, Prasuti Griha faces an overwhelming influx of patients. Due to the high volume of deliveries, the hospital frequently experiences a shortage of neonatal intensive care beds. Furthermore, the lack of in-house specialized services such as pediatric surgery and pediatric cardiology consultations historically forced the hospital to refer critical newborns to other public facilities like Kanti Children’s Hospital and TU Teaching Hospital (IOM).
However, these major government hospitals are similarly overburdened. The acute shortage of available beds often meant that parents had no choice but to rush their fragile newborns to private hospitals, incurring exorbitant medical expenses.
To eliminate this financial and emotional burden, Prasuti Griha has partnered with the newly operational KIOCH to ensure Nepalese families can access top-tier pediatric care without the premium price tag.
“This collaboration with KIOCH ensures that newborns receive timely, specialized, and quality care. By offering services at government-subsidized rates, we aim to eliminate treatment delays and significantly reduce the financial burden on parents.” Dr. Shree Prasad Adhikari, Director of Prasuti Griha
The Scale of Neonatal Care at Prasuti Griha
The Thapathali-based maternity hospital sees immense daily traffic, highlighting the urgent need for this agreement:
Daily Deliveries: Approximately 60 to 70 women receive maternity services every day.
Critical Care Needs: Out of the babies born daily, 7 to 10 newborns require immediate admission to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) or SCBU (Special Care Baby Unit).
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Current Capacity: Prasuti Griha currently operates a total of 52 beds dedicated to neonatal care, including:
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40 beds for NICU/SCBU
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6 beds for Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC)
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6 beds for the Observation Unit
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Key Benefits and Expected Outcomes of the Partnership
The collaboration between Prasuti Griha and KIOCH is set to bring transformative changes to child healthcare through several key milestones:
Affordable Quality Care: Newborns will receive premium, specialized treatment at subsidized rates equivalent to government hospital charges.
Access to Complex Pediatric Surgeries: The agreement streamlines timely access to intricate procedures, including neonatal cardiac (heart) surgeries.
Guaranteed Bed Availability & Follow-ups: The system will optimize bed management to ensure proper admission and seamless post-treatment follow-up care.
Priority for Low-Income Families: A dedicated screening process will identify economically disadvantaged families to provide them with additional financial facilitation and support.
According to hospital authorities, this interim agreement will remain actively in place until Prasuti Griha successfully expands its own NICU/SCBU/KMC bed capacity and establishes full-scale internal pediatric surgery and sub-specialty units.
