Charging Rs 40,000 a day, pvt hospitals ‘fleece’ patients

Sukhmeet Bhasin
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, May 15

Inadequate beds in government hospitals and lack of treatment facilities have resulted in private hospitals fleecing Covid patients in the district.

Many private hospitals are charging exorbitantly and taking registration fee ranging from Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000 apart from bed charges before admitting a patient in the hospital. The district administration is making tall claims on paper but on the ground, the situation is quite grim.

Government hospitals don’t have a single level-3 bed and private hospitals are charging hefty fee, leaving poor patients in the lurch.

A city-based doctor said, “Daily expenses of level-2 and level-3 patients at a private hospital are around Rs 40,000-50,000 per day and no receipts are being given.”

Even delay in giving permission by the district administration to Dr Vitull K Gupta’s Kishore Ram Hospital, which he has given to NGO Naujawan Welfare Society for the free treatment of poor patients, has invited criticism.

AAP MLA Prof Baljinder Kaur said, “Not allowing Kishori Ram Hospital to give free treatment to Covid patients is a demonstration of the Capt government’s insensitivity towards poor.”

Bathinda Deputy Commissioner B Srinivasan said, “We have already instructed the hospitals and IMA to charge as per the state government orders. Nobody can charge more than that from Covid patients and if anyone is doing so, strict action will be taken against them.”

On the nod to Kishore Ram Hospital, he said. “The hospital has given me the list of manpower today, so by tomorrow, we will give it the approval.”