Nepal Orthopaedic Hospital (NOH) was established in the premises of the Nepal Disabled Association (NDA) at the Khagendra New Life Centre in Jorpati in Kathmandu in August 1998. Its sole intention has been to provide quality orthopaedic care, at an affordable price, of which most Nepalese have been deprived.

Dr. Anil Shrestha is the founder and first medical director of the hospital and he was instrumental in bringing the organization to life. The concept for an Adult Orthopaedic Hospital in the NDA premises was already planned by certain individuals from different organizations very early on. NDA, the Rotary Club of Patan (Nepal) and the Rotary Clubs of Amherst South, New York and South Ontario District 7090 worked together in bringing the funds and planning the building of the hospital at the NDA premises. Late Rotarian Nanda Ram Bhakta Mathema from the Rotary Club of Patan and American Rotarian Jim Sinclair were the pioneers of the initial stage of the evolution of the Nepal Orthopaedic Hospital. The initial name of ' Nepal Adult Orthopaedic Hospital' was kept because there already was a children's orthopaedic centre in the area.

Later on the building for the hospital was completed but the project did not fully materialize for years due to lack of funds. Thus the building was lying dormant and the paint was fading and the structure was starting to look more like a ghost-building. Dr. Anil emerged in the picture then and he teamed up with Mr. Luc Salens, a Rotarian from Maldegem, Belgium. Luc raised money from various sources in Belgium and promised to support the running cost and initial capital expenses. Dr Anil garnered a team of doctors, nurses and administrative staff which numbered 15 initially and the hospital became operational since August 1998. The name of the hospital became Nepal Orthopaedic Hospital since the children's centre was already long gone. There has been no looking back in the evolution of the hospital since its initial 20- bedded stage.

The hospital felt the need to expand as service demands grew and people from all over Nepal came for treatment. The reputation of the hospital as a charitable institution grew and more poor patients came. Soon there was realization that in order to be self-sustaining, the hospital needed to open up a private ward so that income could be generated. The same income could cover for the running costs of the hospital as well as give some cross-subsidy to the patients in the general ward.

With this concept the second phase of the hospital was planned and completed. This phase was only possible through the joint efforts of the well-wishers of the hospital. Various Rotary Foundation Matching Grants were involved (see list of donors for details). Special mention needs to be made of Dr Pierre Soete who is a volunteer orthopaedic surgeon from Belgium and who also has been immensely helpful in raising money from his own sources for the hospital. He has also been instrumental in the planning and execution of the second phase expansion of the hospital. Stitching Hulp voor Nepal an organization based in Holland ( Fenna, Miriam, Ocky et al) has been raising money to help the hospital in installing many important devices. There are many individuals and organizations that need mentioning and thanking for helping the hospital. Please look in the list of donors for details.

Last but not the least of all Dr. Saju Pradhan who is the current Medical Director and Mr. Shyam Prasad Rupakheti who is the Chief Administrative Officer have to be mentioned because they and the initial team of doctors, nurses and administrative staff have been working in the hospital since day one and they are the ones who kept the hospital running smoothly on a day to day basis while others were busy fund raising or planning for the future of the hospital.

The common Nepali has long been denied proper access to specific orthopaedic and trauma services because of lack of hospital beds in government hospitals or because of too high fees in private hospitals. High energy trauma is increasing day by day as society is modernising and also the number of people left with complications of trauma and infections of the musculoskeletal system is on the rise.

The purpose of NOH is to accommodate the needs of these needy people and thus help in the overall health sector of the country. NOH has been playing the role of a non-profit, private, non-governmental organisation with the sole intention of quality orthopaedic care at an affordable price.