As many as 47 private hospitals have offered to treat COVID-19 patients with the State government issuing guidelines and fixing a ceiling on rates for medical services.
This is in contrast to the lockdown period when a majority of the over 500 hospitals remained closed. The Health Department issued notices to over 425 hospitals for remaining closed during the lockdown. Then, district in-charge Minister Jagadish Shettar made repeated requests to hospitals to function during the lockdown but in vain.
As per the government guidelines, private hospitals, empanelled with Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST) under Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka Scheme, should be notified for treatment of COVID-19 patients.
The list of empanelled hospitals is available on http://www.arogya.karnataka.gov.in and http://karunadu.karnataka.gov.in/hfw/home.aspx. Information is also available on the toll free helpline Ph: 18004252646.
Ashok Chandaragi, an activist, demanded action against private hospitals, which had refused to treat patients during the lockdown despite repeated requests from the government, but are now offering to treat COVID-19 patients. “These hospitals had shut their doors even on non-COVID-19 patients and many poor women had to be delivered of babies at home. Now, they are offering their services as they want to make money out of the disease. They should be disciplined,’’ he said.
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