Guntur : Private hospitals fleece patients despite govt warnings

Guntur : Though the State ministers and the government officials including Collectors and Joint Collectors are giving statements that Covid hospitals must follow rules in collecting charges and they must not charge exorbitant fees, the hospitals flout the rules.

Family members of the Covid patients are extremely concerned with the exorbitant fee and charges collected by some Covid hospitals in Guntur.

Due to various reasons, some Covid patients are joining the private hospitals for the treatment. But the fee and other charges collected by the hospitals are very high and beyond the reach of the common people, particularly the middleclass and the poor.

The wife of a Covid patient in a video explained her agony and clearly stated how the private hospital was fleecing the patients for the treatment. Covid-19 patient working in the Revenue department in Gurazala town, has been admitted to a corporate hospital in Guntur city where the doctors said, the patient needs to administer two injections per day. She said, the cost of each injection is Rs30,000.

In order to administer two injections, she needs Rs 60,000 for injections every day. In the video released to the social media, she urged the public to contribute to administer injections to her husband battling for life in the corporate hospital.She urged the district Collector Vivek Yadav to extend helping hand to render treatment to her husband.

Joint Collector P Prasantiwatched the video which went viral on the social media and responded immediately. She spoke to the hospital authorities and enquired about Revenue department employee's health condition. She instructed the hospital management to give better treatment to him. She assured that she will extend cooperation to render treatment to the Revenue department employee.

Meanwhile, the Revenue Employees Association collected Rs1,30,000 from the employees and extended the financial assistance to the Revenue employee undergoing treatment.

Victims allege that as the hospitals spent lakhs of rupees towards bribes to get permission to treat Covid-19 patients, they are violating the norms and collecting lakhs of rupees in the name of packages. Situation is the same in the Aarogyasri Network Hospitals.

Hospitals enjoying the support of the ruling party leaders are collecting lakhs of rupees fee per day from the poor patients. If they fail to pay within the stipulated time, the hospital authorities are threatening to stop the treatment to the patient.