WHO OR WHAT IS MERO? Medical Rehabilitation Organisation (MeRO) is a non-profit organisation registered with the Social Welfare Council (SWC – the Government body that is responsible for the regulation of charities in Nepal) (Affiliation number 53349). They are thus subject to government regulations and requirements to promote good governance, accountability and transparency. The Shelter is run by a Board of 9 multi-talented Members who do an amazing job.
WHAT DOES MeRO DO? 
MeRO improves health outcomes by enabling access to health care using funds sourced through donations and grants, both locally and internationally. MeRO funds and facilitates the provision of medical and surgical intervention, nursing care, physiotherapy and rehabilitation services for people with life-changing injury and illness. Medical care is not free in Nepal and all patients who come through the doors of the Shelter cannot afford the above due to poverty.
HOW DO THEY DO IT? MeRO operates a medical shelter in Kathmandu which provides a safe space for patients and their family member(s) to stay. 
MeRO achieves their aims and objectives thanks to the support of many generous individuals in Nepal, along with funding from ourselves which pays for the wages of their clinical staff and more. They are also supported by another organisation called Stichting Care 4 Nepal in the Netherlands, who pays the Shelter’s rent and also receive outstandingly generous donations from people all over the world who are aware of their work.
MeRO’s HISTORY MeRO was founded by the most wonderful biomedical engineer in the whole wide
world called Samrat. Before the 2015 earthquake, MeRO was called Nepal Healthcare Equipment Development Foundation (NHEDF).
MeRO used to be a non-profit organisation recycling broken biomedical equipment and returning it to hospitals and individuals in working order (hence the name). After the earthquake, its primary focus changed to what it does now, but as the months and then the years went by, and their work showed no signs of dissipating, the organisation changed its name. and in January 2021, NHEDF became Medical Rehabilitation Organisation or MeRO for short.
When the earthquake happened, MeRO’s premises quickly evolved into a medical shelter established for people being discharged from hospital way too early to make room for more. It was staffed by volunteer medical staff. Samrat thought the Shelter, as it came to be known, would only be needed for 3 months or so, but over successive weeks, months and then years, patients simply kept coming. Initially people came with earthquake related injuries and then with trauma from other causes and then they began to accept people who were simply sick with a life-changing illness.
Most patients come from remote regions. Many are heavily in debt by the time they come to MeRO and often patients have been referred by or rescued from other hospitals. Everything at the Shelter always was, and always will be, completely free for their patients – medical treatment, food, accomodation, medications – everything.
WHERE DOES MeRO OPERATE? MeRO rents a multi-story building known as the Shelter in Kathmandu. This is a home-away- from-home for up to 20 patients and their family member(s) who assists with their personal care, both in hospital and at the Shelter, as is customary in Nepal. Relatives also help with the day to day running of the Shelter.
HOW DOES ROADS TO REHAB NEPAL SUPPORT MeRO?
We support MeRO’s work in many ways:
- Our Nurse and Physiotherapist Sponsorship Programs pays the wages of their four nurses and physiotherapist.
- We pay US$1000 a month of MeRO’s monthly pharmacy bill which provides all patients with essential medications, medical equipment and supplies.
- We also provide the first US$200 of medical costs for all patients admitted to the Shelter, and raise funds for additional medical costs as required.
- We help MeRO with promoting good governance.
- We facilitate ongoing professional development for clinical staff when required
- We provide mentorship, support, advice and friendship.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
- MeRO receives referrals from individuals, doctors, journalists, healthcare staff and hospitals throughout Nepal. Patients who meet admission criteria either go directly to hospital or to the Shelter. Alternatively they may not be referred until they are part-way through their hospital stay. A multi-disciplinary team, including three full-time nurses and a physiotherapist provide nursing care, physiotherapy and rehabilitation services in a professional, nurturing, supportive caring family environment. Patients stay at the Shelter for as long as necessary.
MeRO employs a security guard, a part time practice manager and a part-time cook. Patient’s care-givers, and patients themselves, when they are able, look after all the practical aspects of the Shelter – cooking, cleaning, shopping, gardening, laundry etc leaving Samrat, MeRO’s Director, to advocate for them and negotiate the many challenges of coordinating patient care within an expensive, complex and sometimes corrupt medical system.