The Helambu Gaunpalika Hospital is a proposed 10-bed medical facility in the rural Helambu Valley, a three-hour drive north from Kathmandu. The Valley is home to the Yolmo (or Hyolmo) people, one of Nepal’s Adivasi Janajati or officially recognized indigenous tribes and groups, and is significant as a sacred beyul, one of seven hidden valleys blessed as a refuge from religious persecution in the 9th century CE by the founding figure of the school of Nyingma Buddhism, Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava). Led by the Nepali nonprofit Helambu Swasthya Pratisthan, in partnership with Montana-based nonprofit organization Tsering’s Fund and officials from the Helambu Rural Municipality, the hospital will be the very first in the district of more than 18,000 residents.

Alongside an emergency room, in-patient ward, diagnostic labs, and out-patient clinical services, the hospital features a birthing center to address maternal health – a major medical challenge in Nepal – as well as a large dentistry office. The hospital is organized as a series of four interconnected,