With Rs 35-crore dues pending, 6 private hospitals in Haryana's Bahadurgarh to stop ESI facility
Ravinder Saini
Tribune News Service
Jhajjar, July 20
Six private hospitals in Bahadurgarh town, empanelled with the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) for providing the cashless facility of medical treatment to insured families, have decided to stop the facility from July 21 if their dues were not paid. They have also intimated the director of the ESIC in this regard.
Number of bills 11,768
The dues pertain to the period from February 2020 to June 2021 and Rs 10 crore is the outstanding amount of the JJ Institute of Medical Sciences, Rs 8.3 crore of RJ Hospital, Rs 5.7 crore of Delhi Hospital, Rs 5.2 crore of RR Hospital, Rs 3.3 crore of Brahmshakti Hospital and Rs 3 crore of Swastik Hospital against total bills numbering 11,768
“Bahadurgarh has around 5 lakh persons enrolled in the ESI scheme and they are dependent upon three ESI dispensaries and six private hospitals. We left no stone unturned to provide better medical aid to the beneficiaries during the first and second wave of the Covid pandemic, but our dues of over Rs 35 crore have not been cleared,” reads a letter signed by the directors of all six hospitals.
As per the letter, the dues pertain to the period from February 2020 to June 2021 and Rs 10 crore is the outstanding amount of the JJ Institute of Medical Sciences, Rs 8.3 crore of RJ Hospital, Rs 5.7 crore of Delhi Hospital, Rs 5.2 crore of RR Hospital, Rs 3.3 crore of Brahmshakti Hospital and Rs 3 crore of Swastik Hospital against total bills numbering11,768. The directors in the letter maintained that the district administration was mounting pressure on them for establishing oxygen plants in their hospitals, keeping in view the probable third wave of Covid, but they do not have money to pay the salary to doctors, nurses and other staffers.
“How can we set up an oxygen plant with a heavy cost in this situation? We have, therefore, decided to stop the cashless medical facility to the ESI beneficiaries from July 21 as no official paid heed to our plight in the past 16 months,” they added.
Dr Manish Sharma, director, Brahmshakti Hospital, said “We will treat the ESI beneficiaries, but have to charge a fee from them to meet our daily expenses.”
Dr Sanjay, officiating SMO with the ESI dispensary in Bahadurgarh, said earlier the claim process was done online, hence the payment was released in time, but these days, the work was being done manually, leading to delay.
