Scheer Memorial Hospital has been a part of Banepa for so long (since 1960) that people here call it “Banepa Hospital.” From its unassuming beginnings as a one-room clinic in a village leader’s home to a multi-specialty hospital atop the steep hill that marks the route of Sir Edmund Hillary’s trek to Mt. Everest, this hospital has become more than a landmark of the community it serves.

Scheer has a long-standing reputation for charity medical services. In rugged mountain villages with no roads or electricity or other modern conveniences, stories are told of the compassion, of the generosity, and of the quality of care at Scheer. And from these places come the majority of our patients. Some walk for days. Others are carried by friends and families—on homemade stretchers or hammocks; and often by piggy back too! They come because everyone knows that no one is ever turned away at Scheer for lack of money. A doctor’s consultation costs only 35 cents—a small fraction of comparable healthcare costs elsewhere in Nepal. But the people we serve are so poor (The annual per capita income in Nepal is $210), that even the 35 cents is more than most can afford. This is why over 35% of our cases are charity.