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Five private hospitals put on notice for overcharging in Chandigarh
The hospitals allegedly found fleecing the patients are Eden, Healing Touch, Apollo, Kare Partner and Mukut, said officials.
The Chandigarh health department has issued notices to at least five private hospitals for overcharging Covid-19 patients for treatment during the peak of pandemic.
Dr Amandeep Kang, director, health department, said the notices have been issued as part of an ongoing inquiry into overcharging complaints received from patients.
The hospitals allegedly found fleecing the patients are Eden, Healing Touch, Apollo, Kare Partner and Mukut, said officials. In the notices, the hospitals have been asked to respond as to why the treatment rates prescribed by the administration were not followed.
“The hospitals have been given a period of one week to respond to the notices. We had previously asked them to refund the excess amount charged from patients,” said Dr Kang.
According to the complaints, private hospitals were allegedly charging extra for oxygen and medicine even as these are part of the package notified by the UT administration.
Dr Sanjay Bansal, owner of Eden Hospital, said that at the time of crisis, they were receiving the life saving drugs at a high cost. “Our main motive was to save the life of patients, and it can be due to this reason that the rates were not in line with packages prescribed,” he said.
Despite the authorities in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali capping the charges for private hospitals treating Covid-19 patients, they have been receiving complaints of fleecing.
While the owner of a Zirakpur private hospital was booked and the 104 helpline number was launched to complain in Mohali, a state-level probe was ordered against a Panchkula-based hospital after the Haryana speaker and local MLA Gian Chand Gupta cited three such cases and wrote to Haryana health minister Anil Vij.
Private hospital owners in Chandigarh have also demanded a hike in Covid treatment charges.
