Dr. Shriya
“Lung is lung, heart is heart - it doesn’t differentiate the rich from the poor.”
My Story
I am Shriya. I work in Dhulikhel Hospital as both a medical and global engagement officer.
Working in Dhulikhel Hospital is not just a profession — it’s my dignity and pride, to serve the very institution where generations of my family have helped to support and grow. My great-grandfather was a land donor for the hospital, my grandfather worked there, my father was in the administration, and now, I have the opportunity to give back to the community.
As I continued to work at Dhulikhel, despite meeting several patients everyday, I can never forget one of the very first patients she operated on.
During the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, a pregnant woman, suffering from the disease, underwent labour. Despite all my efforts, I was unable to save her, and Dhulikhel Hospital experienced its first mortality caused by the disease. Fortunately, I was still able to save the child, who is still living in great health today. As a member of Dhulikhel Hospital’s staff, my priority is to save lives and seeing the grandmother of the baby clutch on to him in tears of joy was enough to make me feel both grateful and accomplished.
“Lung is lung, heart is heart - it doesn’t differentiate the rich from the poor.”
COVID-19 Pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Shriya (a doctor working at Dhulikhel Hospital) was working full-time in the COVID-19 center of Dhulikhel Hospital. At the time, the hospital was flooded with patients, and after a few days, Dr. Shriya realised something terrible — The hospital had only a few oxygen cylinders and concentrators remaining
At first, she couldn’t believe it — people were going to die and she felt like all she could do was pray.
But after a while, she realised that she couldn’t just sit there and wait for things to play out. As a member of Dhulikhel Hospital, she needed to do everything she could to save as many lives as possible..
Along with her colleagues, she made a plan and together, they segregated the patients into different floors: the ground and the first floor were for patients with mild symptoms. The second and third floors had slightly more serious cases, and the fourth floor had patients who wouldn’t survive even a second without oxygen.
A decision was made — to dedicate all the oxygen to the patients in intensive care. If a patient required oxygen, they would give them concentrators rather than oxygen from the main supply.
Sadly, three patients would have to share one concentrator and they would monitor their saturation. In the case that a patient would have their saturation drop, they would be provided with oxygen. They would also use hydrocortisone injections, which would help the lungs function better.
During this period of time, the administrative team was trying to get oxygen from a nearby city quickly.
In the end, there were zero mortalities reported!
“This is something that is so engraved into my heart and why I feel so proud to be in Dhulikhel Hospital, because even when we run out of our resources, with our dedication and help of our administration and our leaders, we still continue to do the best we can.” Dr. Shriya says.