One of a Kind

Founded in 2010 as a small, primary healthcare facility, the Baseri Clinic has grown and flourished in the past decade. Located in the village of Dhadagaun, Baseri which lies 150 kilometers northwest of Kathmandu, the clinic is the only one of its kind in the surrounding area. When the 2015 earthquake destroyed the original clinic building, CCF undertook a $40,000 project in partnership with the village of Baseri to rebuild a new seven-room, earthquake-resistant, and fireproof facility.

Finished in 2016, the rebuilt clinic now sees an average of over ten patients a day. Common treatments include IV rehydration, gastric issues, maternal healthcare, and burns. CCF’s cost per patient is roughly 75¢.

While the Baseri clinic has been reincarnated in many different forms, from its initial one-story, three-room facility, to a small, propped-up shack in the months following the earthquake, and now the most expansive and capable version yet, the same spirit lives on, and sustaining it remains a central tenant of CCF’s work. Several years after its opening, Mr. Edward Biele, of Seattle, gave the clinic an endowment, in honor of his dear friend and caregiver, Sita Gurung, which has made the future of this clinic stable far into the future.

Humble beginnings

In 1984, Denise and Ric met Sita Gurung while they were trekking through her remote village of Baseri, Nepal. As a child, Sita lost many friends and family members to easily curable illnesses. She dreamed of building a clinic in her village where there had never been any healthcare before. Denise and Ric were inspired to help Sita make this a reality.

Over the years, their relationship grew and this vision solidified. Fundraising began in 2007 and with much help from the Baseri community, the four-room, one-story building in the traditional architecture of the village was completed. It opened in 2010. Partnerships with the Nepal Seattle Society, the Baseri community, and donors from around the world made this first clinic possible.

meet THE Baseri Clinic STAFF

CCF works through the Deurali Community Service Center in Baseri. Recently the community began a partnership with the Nepali government to provide the qualified staff for the clinic. These staff positions rotate every several years and place an emphasis on hiring women.