Blaming Govt for curbs, Sancheti family decides to desert Kingsway Hospital
Nagpur : “Medical profession is a feat. It requires self-sacrifice, purity of soul and purity of thoughts.”
But a business-minded family thinks exactly the opposite. “A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running” is the line of their thinking.
According to reports, in this context, a reputed family has started the process to pull out of the city’s biggest private tertiary healthcare institution — Kingsway Hospital. The family blames government regulations and a change in mindset of the community towards private hospitals for withdrawing from the state-of-the-art hospital operational since December last year.
The pull out move could be attributed to steps taken by the Maharashtra Government to curb inflated billing of Covid-19 treatment and other healthcare services being provided to patients. The question is why blame the government? One must remember that the government move is aimed at benefiting the poor patients who cannot afford costly treatment. If the family thinks that their hospital has been started with the sole purpose of mopping money only then their call to pull out from the hospital is a ‘welcome step’.
It is pertinent to recall that in a bid to check overcharging by private hospitals, the State Government had instructed all the hospitals to audit the bills of coronavirus patients before handing it over to them. It has also wanted the hospitals of punishment in case of overcharging. The Government imposed a price cap on private hospitals treating Covid-19 patients after allegations that many of these healthcare facilities were charging exorbitant rates in a bid to compensate for a 90% dip in the admission of non-Covid-19 patients. Restrictions had also been imposed on the billing of medicines in private hospitals. All private hospitals come under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and are liable to follow the rules of the State Government amid the pandemic. Private hospitals have to provide treatment as per the concessional rate decided by the state government. Auditing medical bills basically involves comparing the record of the treatment to the itemized bill to determine that treatment and supplies were delivered as charged.
Apparently peeved over the State Government move to curb overcharging by the hospitals, the Sancheti family thought it ‘harmful’ to their business and hence decided to pull out of their ‘shop’ (Kingsway Hospital). And to find an easy way for their pull out, the Sancheti family blamed the government regulations as the reason. The family further ‘lamented’ change in mindset of community towards private hospitals for withdrawing from the sophisticated hospital.
According to reports, SPANV Medisearch Lifesciences Private Ltd, which developed the 300-bed tertiary hospital near Kasturchand Park in West Nagpur, has circulated investment memorandum in a limited circle. The value of one share has been fixed at Rs 500, with 75 lakh shares available for transfer for a total value of Rs 375 crore. As per investment memorandum, project’s CAPEX cost was Rs 317.60 crore. Sancheti family has 55% shares while the remaining 45% are with some doctors.
Notably, Vidarbha Hospitals Association (VHA) had condemned and blamed government regulations for causing financial loss to hospitals. VHA had also raised objections on actions and adverse publicity to hospitals by authorities.
Despite several calls, Ananad Sancheti wasn’t available for the comment. When Nagpur Today contacted Kingsway Hospital officials, they refused to share anything quieting they are not the authorized personnel to discuss the issue.
Blaming Govt for curbs, Sancheti family decides to desert Kingsway Hospital
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