FOR WANT OF MONEY, POOR FAMILY MADE TO WAIT FOR HOURS TO GET CHILD’S BODY AT PVT HOSPITAL
SBS NAGAR: A Garhshankar-based poor family had to allegedly wait for a few hours to get the body of their 40-day-old daughter as they could not pay the medical bills to a private hospital in SBS Nagar on Monday.
Finally, the district administration had to intervene, and it asked the hospital to release the body, assuring it of paying the amount. The hospital authorities, however, denied the allegation.
Ragini, who resides on Railway Road in Garhshankar in neighbouring Hoshiarpur district, 10 km from here, said her 40-day-old daughter Bhoomi suddenly fell ill and was admitted to Ivy Hospital in SBS Nagar on Sunday afternoon. The child died on late
DC ORDERS PROBE INTO WHETHER PVT HOSPITAL WAS RIGHT IN CHARGING ₹23,000; HOSPITAL DENIES ALLEGATION
Sunday night and the hospital authorities asked the family to pay ₹23,000, said Ragini, whose husband is a daily-wager at a ‘gaushala’.
“We did not have so much money to pay, so we approached (former Rajya Sabha MP) Avinash Rai Khanna for help, who in turn called the SBS Nagar deputy commissioner (DC),” said Ragini.
DC Vipul Ujjwal told HT that soon after receiving Khanna’s call on Monday afternoon, he directed subdivisional magistrate (SDM) Geetika Singh to ensure the release of the body. The SDM met the family at her office and told the hospital authorities to release the body on humanitarian grounds. The issue was finally sorted around 1pm. Ujjwal said the district administration has assured the hospital that it would be bearing the entire bill. He has also asked the civil surgeon to submit a report on whether the hospital was right in charging the given amount.
Ivy Hospital regional director Gaganjot Singh, however, refuted the allegation, claiming that as soon as he got information about the family’s inability to pay the bill, he immediately released the body and waived the bill amount. He said the hospital did not even take any advance from the family when the baby was brought there and the doctors tried their best to save her.