New Delhi: The father of a 28-year old junior resident doctor, who had tested positive for Covid-19 last month, has written a letter to the director of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, asking to waive his son’s treatment bill of over Rs 3 lakh.
Dr Joginder Choudhary is an MBBS, who has been working on an ad hoc basis at the Delhi government-run Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar (BSA) Medical Hospital and College for the last six months.
He was working in the hospital’s flu clinic and then in the casualty ward until 23 June when he developed fever. Four days later, on 27 June, he tested positive for Covid-19 and was admitted in the BSA hospital after he complained of difficulty in breathing.
“On 27 June, Joginder was admitted to BSA hospital, but the doctors here said that his condition was critical and was shifted to LNJP hospital. On 30 June, doctors at LNJP told his father that Joginder had to be put on a ventilator. He has developed a hole in his lung,” Rameshwar Sanghwa, a nursing officer with the BSA hospital, told ThePrint.
Following this, the resident doctor was shifted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, a private facility, on 8 July.
According to the letter written by his father, who is a farmer, the hospital has furnished a bill of Rs 3,44,317 until 14 July. The amount could further go up further as Joginder is still being treated at the hospital and his condition is critical.
Horrible : A doctor from BSH who got COVID19 infection on line of duty was denied help by Govt/Exemption of fees of almost 3.5 Lakh. Govt. promises 1 crore after death but none for treatment. Petals , Claps but no treatment ? pic.twitter.com/JlaPkqcpT7
— Srinivas M.D(AIIMS)📢 (@srinivasaiims) July 17, 2020
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ThePrint reached the PRO of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Ajoy Sehgal, who refused to comment.
A source at Ganga Ram, however said the hospital will “provide help in whatever way possible since the patient is a Covid-warrior”.
“The bill is there is from the hospital information system, but there will be a capping of the rates, so it won’t be more than Rs 1.5 lakh… We will provide the best of help that we as a private hospital can. ”
On the total bill amount, the source added, “Currently, the patient is under treatment, he is in ICU. A final bill will be created when he is discharged. But they should approach Delhi government for more such cases. Gangaram can only help so many patients. We don’t have any such policy, we will be helping only this one case.”
‘He himself wanted to be treated at Sir Ganga Ram’
Joginder’s uncle, who didn’t want to be named, told ThePrint that resident doctor wanted to be treated at a private facility.
“He told us that he wants to be treated in a private hospital. He himself said he wants to go to Ganga Ram Hospital. We are praying for his recovery.”
Sanghwa said the doctors at BSA hospital raised about Rs 2,80,000 for his initial treatment since Joginder’s father is a farmer from a village in Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh.
“I had written a letter to the Delhi chief minister’s office (on 9 July) asking for some form of compensation for doctors infected on duty, but I am yet to hear anything official for them,” he said.
Response from Delhi govt has been ‘positive’
Dr Vineet Kumar, president of the BSA’s Resident Doctors Association, told ThePrint: “We raised funds for his family to ensure that the family doesn’t have to bear the financial burden of the trauma.
“On 15 July, we had written to the Delhi CM for a waiver and we received a response within two hours. We were told that our request has been forwarded to the health ministry officials. The response has been positive and we are hoping to hear back from the government by Monday,” he added.
ThePrint reached Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Ashwati Murlidharana via calls and texts, but she refused to comment on the issue. Calls and messages to Health Secretary Padmini Singhala and Director of Family Welfare Nutan Mandeja went unanswered.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in April had announced an amount of Rs 1 crore for healthcare staff who would die while discharging Covid-19 duties, but nothing has so far been declared for their treatment.
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