Specialty
Location
Department:- Medicine Specialist, Child Specialist, ENT Specialist, Gynecologist,
Sunamganj sits in the Sylhet Division, in the northeastern reaches of Bangladesh, defined largely by its haor wetlands - vast, seasonally flooded basins that make travel here slower and healthcare access harder than in most other districts. Its population crossed 2.69 million at the 2022 census, and for nearly all of them, the 250-Bed District Sadar Hospital in Sunamganj town is the only serious public healthcare option before the journey onward to Osmani Medical College Hospital in Sylhet.
The hospital's bed count doubled from 100 to 250 back in 2009, but as the hospital's own 2016 Local Health Bulletin candidly put it at the time, most sanctioned doctor and nurse positions sat vacant even then, and the promised new infrastructure was still under construction. Reporting since has shown this isn't a problem the hospital ever really grew out of. A 2019 Financial Express piece described a newly finished 250-bed building sitting unused for a year while citizen groups formed human chains outside the old hospital demanding it be brought online, at a time when the existing emergency department reportedly had no physician on duty and no working ECG machine.
Years later, the staffing math had barely moved. A May 2024 Financial Express report found only 30 of 66 sanctioned physician posts filled, with 13 of the 36 vacancies specifically among senior and junior consultant roles across surgery, ophthalmology, ENT, anaesthesia, gynaecology, and radiology. Around the same period, a Bangladesh Post account described the maternity ward, licensed for 17 beds but routinely admitting 35 to 50 patients a day, being run by a single junior consultant on days when as many as five doctors were supposed to be on duty.
Perhaps the starkest illustration of the gap between infrastructure and staffing is the hospital's ICU. During the Covid-19 pandemic, a six-bed ICU and oxygen plant were installed in the hospital's old building through a UNICEF-backed project, in direct response to years of local demand for critical care access. According to a June 2025 Prothom Alo report, that ICU, fully equipped with rooms, beds, and medical machinery, had still not treated a single patient two years on, because the hospital couldn't find or retain the qualified physicians needed to run it. Patients in genuine medical crises, including accident victims, were instead being sent on the road to Sylhet, a trip some didn't survive long enough to complete. A local civil society member, speaking to the same report, pressed the point that a facility this vital shouldn't remain a building full of unused equipment.
By 2026, the picture across the wider district had, if anything, worsened. A June 2026 Daily Sun report citing the Sunamganj Civil Surgeon's office found 436 of 809 sanctioned health-sector posts vacant district-wide, spanning the Sadar Hospital, upazila health complexes, and union health centres alike. At the Sadar Hospital specifically, hospital sources told the same outlet that 217 of 472 approved positions remained unfilled, including 46 of 74 doctor posts and 63 of 262 nursing posts. The hospital's deputy director, Dr Mahbubur Rahman Swapan, acknowledged the situation plainly, saying the shortage had been reported to higher authorities on multiple occasions without a lasting fix.
Phone: 087161704
Mobile: 01730324819
Email: sunamganj@hospi.dghs.gov.bd
Address: Sunamganj Sadar, Sunamganj District, Sylhet Division-3000
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/fqSoW1QEmrtw8WXTA
Given the well-documented gaps in physician coverage, particularly for specialist and emergency care, calling ahead before travelling, especially from a remote haor area, is genuinely worth doing here.
Founded: Upgraded from a 100-bed to a 250-bed facility in 2009, according to the hospital's own official health bulletin; an earlier founding date for the original facility could not be confirmed and should be verified with hospital administration.
Speciality: The principal government hospital for Sunamganj's haor-crossed district of nearly 2.7 million people, functioning as the main referral point before Osmani Medical College Hospital in Sylhet.
Number of Beds: 250 sanctioned beds, though individual wards have reported running well past this - the maternity ward alone was described in one account as licensed for 17 beds while admitting 35 to 50 patients daily.
Departments: Medicine, Surgery, Gynaecology & Obstetrics, Paediatrics, Ophthalmology, ENT, Radiology, Anaesthesia, and Emergency Medicine, plus an Intensive Care Unit that has remained non-operational for years despite having equipment in place. Multiple senior consultant posts across these departments have been reported vacant for extended periods, so confirming specialist availability ahead of a visit matters more than usual here.
Popular Treatments: General outpatient consultation, emergency and casualty care, maternal and childbirth services, and general inpatient treatment, with critical, ICU-level, and several specialist categories of care routinely requiring referral to Sylhet.
Doctor List
A verified, current department-wise doctor list could not be located through available public sources. With close to half of the hospital's sanctioned doctor posts reported vacant as of mid-2026, confirming who is actually on duty by phone before travelling is especially important here - please verify.
Outpatient (OPD) consultation. Emergency and casualty department, though physician presence there has been inconsistently reported. Indoor admission (250 beds sanctioned, with some wards reportedly exceeding capacity). A six-bed ICU with oxygen plant, physically installed but not operational due to a shortage of qualified physicians. Maternity and gynaecology ward services. Basic diagnostic and radiology services, though equipment availability has been inconsistently reported over the years.
Please confirm current facility and staffing status directly with the hospital before a visit, particularly regarding ICU access and specialist availability, both of which have been flagged repeatedly in local reporting.
Following the general pattern for government hospitals across Bangladesh, OPD hours typically run 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM, except on government holidays. Given the reported strain on staffing, calling ahead and arriving early both seem like sensible precautions here - please confirm exact hours directly with the hospital.
The hospital is located in Sunamganj Sadar, the district's administrative headquarters and largest town, on the banks of the Surma River. Because much of the district consists of seasonally flooded haor terrain, patients travelling in from more remote unions and upazilas should budget considerably more time than map distance alone would suggest, particularly during the monsoon season.
Google Maps link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/fqSoW1QEmrtw8WXTA
It remains the only district-level public hospital serving Sunamganj's nearly 2.7 million residents, offering an affordable option in a haor region where private alternatives are scarce and travel to Sylhet is neither quick nor cheap. Hospital leadership and the district Civil Surgeon's office have both gone on record acknowledging staffing gaps directly to journalists, which has kept the issue visible and under some pressure for resolution. The physical infrastructure, including a 250-bed building and an ICU with modern equipment, is already largely in place, meaning a genuine staffing fix could unlock meaningfully expanded services relatively quickly. For many routine and non-critical needs, it remains a far more practical option than the longer trip to Sylhet.
Hospital Name: Sunamganj 250-Bed District Sadar Hospital
Founded: Upgraded from 100 to 250 beds in 2009; original founding year not confirmed - please verify
Location: Sunamganj Sadar, Sunamganj District, Sylhet Division-3000
Ownership: Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Government of Bangladesh
Facility Code: 10002157
Number of Beds: 250 sanctioned; individual wards reportedly exceeding capacity at times
Type: District General Hospital
Emergency Service: Reported as available, though physician presence has been inconsistently documented - please verify current status
Outdoor (OPD) Timing: 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM, except government holidays - please verify
Phone: 087161704
Mobile: 01730324819
Email: sunamganj@hospi.dghs.gov.bd
Answer: Not as of the most recent available reporting. A six-bed ICU and oxygen plant were installed during the Covid-19 pandemic through a UNICEF-backed project, but as of mid-2025 the unit had reportedly never treated a patient due to a lack of qualified physicians to run it.
Answer: As of mid-2026, hospital sources reported 46 of 74 sanctioned doctor posts vacant, part of a wider gap of 217 unfilled positions out of 472 approved posts across the hospital as a whole.
Answer: 250 sanctioned beds, following an upgrade from 100 beds in 2009. Some individual wards, such as maternity, have been reported admitting well beyond their designated bed count.
Answer: Patients needing ICU-level or specialist care beyond the hospital's current capacity are commonly referred to Osmani Medical College Hospital in Sylhet, the divisional headquarters.
Answer: It is the main public hospital for Sunamganj district, home to close to 2.7 million people according to the 2022 census, spread across a haor-dominated landscape that makes travel to alternative facilities especially difficult.
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