Kunde Hospital (sometimes Khunde Hospital, ne, कुन्दे अस्पताल) is a hospital in the town of Kunde,

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

, that serves 8,000 people from

Khumbu Khumbu (also known as the Everest Region) is a region of northeastern Nepal on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest. It is part of the Solukhumbu District, which in turn is part of Province No. 1.Bradley, Mayhew; "Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya"; ( ...

district. It is situated above sea level and was founded by

Sir Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineering, mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropy, philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa people, Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became th ...

in 1966. The hospital was funded and operated by The Himalayan Trust until 1976 and is now supported by the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation.

History

After Hillary climbed Everest in 1953, he led many further expeditions to Nepal. From the early 1960s, these expeditions had a focus on improving the health and social welfare of the people of Nepal, including the improvement of water supplies, the building of schools, bridges and an airstrip at

Lukla Lukla ( ne, लुक्ला ) is a small town in the Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality of the Solukhumbu District in the Province No. 1 of north-eastern Nepal. Situated at , it is a popular place for visitors to the Himalayas near Mount Eve ...

, and the provision of medical care and a programme of vaccination against

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

. In 1966, Hillary, with overseas volunteers and local people, built the hospital at Kunde. The hospital opened on December 18, 1966, when Dr John McKinnon and Diane McKinnon, of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, became the first volunteer couple to staff the hospital. The hospital was initially staffed by overseas volunteers from New Zealand and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, provided through the Volunteer Service Abroad organisation and later by The Himalayan Trust and the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation Canada. Canadian doctor Joan Ford was one such overseas doctor who provided services at the hospital. Since 2002, it has been wholly staffed and run by local people. The hospital has 12 beds.

References

{{Reflist Hospital buildings completed in 1966 Hospitals in Nepal Hospitals established in 1966 1966 establishments in Nepal