Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on Monday appointed Dr Jay Narayan Shah, a senior surgeon at Patan Hospital, the Vice-chancellor (VC) of the Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS).

A three-member committee formed to recommend names for a new PAHS VC had on Sunday submitted three names—Dr Shah, Dr Shree Krishna Giri, rector of the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS) and Dr Shreejana Shrestha, a pediatrician at Patan Hospital.

The committee was led by Health Minister Rajendra Mahato with Secretary at the Education Ministry Som Lal Subedi and Chairman of the Nepal Medical Council Dr Damodar Gajurel as members.

Dr Shah, 51, is the third VC of the PAHS, which was first recognised as a teaching institute by the Cabinet in 2007. Dr Arjun Karki was its first VC. When his four-year term ended in August last year, he was replaced by Dr Sangita Bhandari, former head of the ENT Department at the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan.

However, just five months into her appointment, Dr Bhandari was unanimously removed by the PAHS Senate, following months-long protests against her “unilateral decision” to appoint Dr Soumya Bhattacharya of the BPKIHS as Rector of the institute. Dr Bhandari was given marching orders on January 24 and the three-member committee formed on January 25.

Many doctors have lauded the PM’s move to appoint a VC from within the institute itself. “Let’s be optimistic and hope that Dr Shah will live up to the spirit of the institute,” said one of the members of the National Counsellor Board of the PAHS. 

Dr Shah said that since he has support of almost all doctors and hospital staff, it will be easy for him to work. “I will do my best to take the PAHS legacy forward and achieve its mission and vision,” he said.

source: The Kathmandu Post,12 Feb 2013