Disease-Wise Specialist Hospital Finder for Nepal: Heart, Cancer, Kidney, Eye, Maternity, Mental Health and Burns

Nepal treats several high-cost, high-risk conditions in a small number of dedicated tertiary hospitals rather than in every general hospital. The Department of Health Services (DoHS), through its National Social Security Division (Nursing and Social Security Division, NSSD), publishes both a disease-wise and a province-wise directory of hospitals authorised to treat specified conditions. These lists tell patients which government-recognised centre handles cardiac, cancer, kidney, eye, maternity, mental-health and burn cases, and are the starting point for any referral.

Affordability is handled separately through the Bipanna Nagarik Kosh (Deprived Citizens' Medical Treatment Fund) run by the Ministry of Health and Population. The fund covers eight expensive diseases and reimburses treatment directly through designated hospitals, so a poor patient does not have to pay upfront. As of the fund's published lists, the largest concentration of designated hospitals is in Bagmati Province, reflecting where most tertiary specialist capacity sits.

This page is organised the same way a patient would search: by condition. For each specialty it names the leading government or government-recognised hospitals, notes where they are, and points to the official directory so readers can confirm the current, complete list before travelling. Because hospital status and bed numbers change, always verify with the hospital or the DoHS directory before relying on a specific figure.

The national referral hospital for heart disease is the Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre (SGNHC) in Bansbari, Kathmandu. Established in 1995 (2052 BS) on land handed over from the former Bansbari shoe factory, it was renamed in 1996 (2053 BS) in honour of the martyr Gangalal Shrestha. It has grown into a full-service cardiac hospital of roughly 300 beds offering cardiology, cardiac surgery, catheterisation labs, coronary and intensive care units, and it performs the bulk of the country's open-heart operations and interventions.

Kathmandu also hosts the Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Center (MCVTC) at the Institute of Medicine, Maharajgunj, which provides cardiac surgery and vascular services within the Tribhuvan University teaching system. Several large teaching hospitals and provincial referral hospitals run cardiology departments and cath labs, so stable cases can increasingly be managed closer to home, while complex surgery is still concentrated in the Kathmandu Valley.

Because cardiovascular disease is one of the eight conditions covered by the Bipanna Nagarik Kosh, low-income cardiac patients treated at designated hospitals can have a large share of their costs met by the fund. Patients should confirm at admission whether the hospital is a designated Bipanna centre and carry the required recommendation letter.

The leading dedicated cancer hospital is the B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital (BPKMCH) in Bharatpur, Chitwan, named after Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala, Nepal's first elected prime minister, who died of throat cancer in 1982. Built with joint Nepal-China support, it began day services in 1995 and inpatient care in 1999, and remains the country's largest oncology centre for chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgical oncology.

Within the Kathmandu Valley, the government-run Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital (about 150 beds) provides cancer treatment, screening and research. Cancer services are also delivered at major teaching and government hospitals including the B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan, the National Academy of Medical Sciences (Bir Hospital) in Kathmandu, and the Civil Service Hospital, while the Sushil Koirala Prakhar Cancer Hospital in Khairenitar, Tanahun, extends specialist oncology into Gandaki Province.

Cancer is a covered disease under the Bipanna scheme, and the government has separately expanded targeted cash support for cancer patients over the years. Because treatment protocols (surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy) may be split across facilities, patients should ask their treating oncologist which designated hospital can deliver the full course and how the subsidy is claimed.

For kidney transplantation, the flagship public facility is the Shahid Dharmabhakta National Transplant Center (also known as the Human Organ Transplant Centre) in Dudhpati, Bhaktapur. Established in 2012 by the Ministry of Health to expand organ transplantation, it is a designated centre of excellence for kidney and liver transplants and carries out roughly 200 kidney transplants a year. Kidney transplants are also performed at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital and a number of accredited teaching hospitals and private centres.

For patients on maintenance dialysis, Nepal has significantly widened access. The government began funding free lifetime haemodialysis in 2016, and free dialysis is now available at dozens of hospitals nationwide, including the Human Organ Transplant Centre and the National Kidney Center. The National Kidney Center (Vanasthali, Kathmandu), operated by the Health Care Foundation-Nepal, runs one of the largest haemodialysis operations in the country with stations inside and outside the valley.

Renal failure is one of the eight Bipanna diseases. Beyond the standard Rs 100,000 support, kidney-transplant recipients can receive up to Rs 200,000 toward transplant costs and a further Rs 100,000 for post-transplant medicines. Patients seeking free dialysis usually need a poverty/recommendation certificate, so it is worth arranging paperwork before starting treatment.

Nepal has an unusually strong, low-cost eye-care system, much of it coordinated through the Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh and specialist institutions. The Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Kathmandu is internationally known for cataract surgery, corneal transplantation and its manufacture of low-cost intraocular lenses, while the Nepal Eye Hospital in Tripureshwor is one of the country's oldest dedicated eye hospitals.

Outside the capital, high-volume eye hospitals bring surgery within reach of rural patients. The Sagarmatha Choudhary Eye Hospital in Lahan, Siraha - founded in 1983 - is world-renowned for high-volume, low-cost surgery and anchors eye care in the eastern Tarai. The B.P. Eye Foundation (CHEERS Hospital) in Bhaktapur, Biratnagar Eye Hospital, Lumbini Eye Institute in Bhairahawa, and Geta Eye Hospital in Kailali extend specialist ophthalmology across the provinces.

Most of these hospitals are non-profit and run subsidised or free camps for cataract and other blinding conditions, so cost is rarely a barrier for basic eye surgery. For specialised needs such as retina, glaucoma or paediatric surgery, patients are usually referred to Tilganga, the B.P. Eye Foundation or a regional institute.

The country's pioneer maternity hospital is the Paropakar Maternity and Women's Hospital (Prasuti Griha) in Thapathali, Kathmandu, established on 17 August 1959 (2016 BS). With around 415 beds it is Nepal's largest tertiary obstetric and gynaecological centre and reports roughly 15,000 deliveries a year. Every province now also has government referral and provincial hospitals with maternity and neonatal units, and the national Aama (safe motherhood) programme provides free institutional delivery and incentives at public facilities.

Mental-health services remain highly concentrated. The Mental Hospital, Lagankhel, in Lalitpur is the only central government-run mental hospital in Nepal; it traces back to a psychiatry department at Bir Hospital that was shifted to Lagankhel in 1985, and it operates about 50 beds despite far higher daily demand. Psychiatric care is also provided at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Patan Hospital, the B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences and other teaching hospitals, and provincial hospitals are gradually adding psychiatric units.

Because dedicated psychiatric beds are scarce, many patients are managed as outpatients or through general-hospital psychiatry departments. Families seeking inpatient mental-health care should call ahead, as the Lagankhel hospital and major teaching hospitals frequently run at or beyond capacity.

Nepal's designated national burn facility is the Nepal Cleft and Burn Center at Kirtipur Hospital, run by the Public Health Concern Trust (PHECT-Nepal), which has provided dedicated acute burn care since 2013. It operates specialised burn intensive-care and general beds with dedicated operating theatres and treats on the order of 800 burn patients a year, making it the main referral point for serious burns from across the country.

Other Kathmandu hospitals share the burden. The Sushma Koirala Memorial Hospital in Sankhu is a long-standing reconstructive and burn-care centre, and Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Patan Hospital and Bir Hospital all provide burn treatment. Because most district and provincial hospitals offer only basic burn stabilisation, severe cases are still routinely referred to the Kathmandu Valley, and burn admissions spike each winter.

To reduce this pressure, the government has announced plans to establish burn wards in provincial hospitals so that patients can be stabilised and, where possible, treated closer to home. Until that capacity is in place, anyone with a major burn should be stabilised locally and referred quickly to Kirtipur or another equipped centre.