Bhagawan Koirala


Bhagawan Koirala is a Nepalese Cardiothoracic surgeon, professor and Social Worker. He led the team of Nepalese surgeons in Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre for Open-heart surgery in Nepal. He is considered a good manager of the public hospitals.

Education and Background

Koirala completed his primary school in his hometown of Palpa. He then completed a “Certificate in General Medicine”, a degree equivalent to that of a Physician assistant, from the Institute of Medicine in Kathmandu. His deep interest took him to Kharkiv, Ukraine, where he graduated from Kharkiv Medical Institute in 1989. He credits his teacher during the paramedic course for encouraging him to take a career in medicine, particularly in the field of cardiac surgery. He did his post-graduation in Cardiothoracic and surgery from the National Institute of Cardiovascular diseases, Dhaka University in 1994. He also has a valid USMLE certificate. He did a year of surgical residency at the Baystate Medical Center and later continued as a fellow in cardiac surgery in the same place. He then completed a year of fellowship in pediatric cardiac surgery from the Sick Children's Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada The Hospital for Sick Children of Toronto in 2000.

Career

Koirala started his career at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. He was involved in the team that started the Open Heart surgery program at the Teaching Hospital in 1997. After returning from Canada, he led the newly established Shahid Gangalal National Heart Center as the Executive director from 2001 till 2009. He was an acting Executive Director of Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Center . He also served as the Executive Director of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. Professionally, he was heading the department of cardiac surgery while at the heart hospital and later the department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Tribhuvan University. He has performed or directly supervised over 14 thousand various kinds of congenital as well as adult heart surgeries between 2001 and 2024. He contributed as the Board Director of multiple government institutions.

Humanitarian projects

He is involved with numerous social and charitable organizations. His motto is: “No child in this country shall die of heart disease because of poverty”. He is currently the Chairman of Jayanti Memorial Trust, an organization that is dedicated to helping patients with heart diseases. He was the chairman of Karuna Foundation Home, which is working on the prevention, early detection, and rehabilitation of disabilities across Province 1 of Nepal. His next major undertaking is the Children's Hospital project, called Kathmandu Institute of Child Health, which aims to establish a multispecialty children's hospital in Kathmandu and later in all provinces of Nepal which he leads as the chairman.

Memberships and Fellowships

Koirala is a member of numerous medical and scientific organizations:-

Executive Positions Held

Humanitarian and Social Works / Initiatives

Koirala has affiliation with various Social and Humanitarian work / Initiatives/ organizations:-

Contributions to medicine

Pioneering open heart surgery in Nepal

The first open-heart surgery in Nepal was performed by the all-Nepalese team including Koirala at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) on 20 February 1997. This initiative gave a hope for treating heart diseases inside the country by establishing the first fully operational heart hospital, and also to ensure free service for the needy.

Social Initiatives

His social initiative came when Nepal completely lacked resources to treat heart patients, and the rate of heart-related diseases was increasing in the region. According to a National Report on NCDs and CVDs compiled by NHRC in 2010;
MCVTC, previously headed by Koirala, is famously known for providing medicines at lower prices than the suggested retail price. He also represents the team of Cardiovascular Surgery for Asia Pacific Society of Cardiology's Scientific Council.
Dr. Koirala served as the Chairman of Nepal Medical Council from 2019 to 2023.
Dr. Koirala is Visiting Professor at, where he provides service to cardiac patients at Bir Hospital.
KIOCH, with Dr. Koirala as the Chairman, is working to establish Children's Hospital Network in Nepal. The Children's Hospital Network will have a Multi-Specialty HUB hospital in Kathmandu and satellite hospitals in remaining six provinces of Nepal. KIOCH commits to provide quality care to the children of Nepal not returning any child because of financial condition of the family.

Honors and Awards

  • 'Birendra-Aisworya' Medal for outstanding Service, 2001
  • 'Suprabal Gorkha Dakshinbahu IV' for outstanding service, 2001
  • Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology - Science and Technology Talent Award Grade 'A', 2005
  • 'Hem Bahadur Malla Honor' for outstanding hospital services, public Administration Association of Nepal, 2006
  • 'Manager of The Year 2007', Management Association of Nepal, 2008
  • Mrigendra-Samjhana Medical Trust Honor, 2012 and 2022
  • Suprabal Jana Sewashree III, Government of Nepal, 2012
  • Sukirtimaya Rastradeep III, Government of Nepal, 2019

Publications

Over 60 publications in National and International Journals.

Personal life

Koirala was born in Palpa, Nepal. He resides in Kathmandu with his parents, wife and son.