Bengal Private Hospitals to Reserve 15% Beds for Poor Patients
Kolkata: Private hospitals in West Bengal that have acquired land from the government at a nominal cost for building healthcare facilities will now be required to keep 15% of their beds for free treatment of poor patients. This announcement was made by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday as part of a series of measures aimed at improving patient care services in the state.
"We have decided that all private hospitals that acquired government land at Re 1 will have to keep 15% of their beds for poor patients. These free beds could also be used for the treatment of patients diverted from government hospitals due to bed scarcity. These patients will have to be treated for free," Adhikari said while inaugurating the statewide HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccination campaign at Bidhannagar Sub-Divisional Hospital.
The state government has periodically leased land to private health facilities at highly subsidised rates. Sources in the health department indicated that such concessions are offered in exchange for benefits to the public, such as free or subsidised medical care. While previous agreements typically required hospitals to reserve 10% of beds for free treatment and 20% for outpatient services, health officials admitted that there was no systematic way of verifying compliance.
"Generally, the agreement with hospitals that received government land is that they should reserve 10% beds for free treatment of poor patients and about 20% for OPD services," said a senior health official. The health department has now started listing private hospitals that acquired government land at nominal fees, and some have been asked to produce their lease agreements.
In addition, the Chief Minister, along with BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya, remotely inaugurated 100 additional beds across three units of SSKM Hospital — Woodburn, Sambhunath Pandit Hospital, and Kolkata Police Hospital.
"The Centre has sanctioned Rs 2,103 crore for the National Health Mission and the Centre's share of Rs 976 crore for the rollout of the Ayushman Bharat scheme. Ayushman Bharat will cover around 1.4 crore families. People from Bengal, including migrants working in other states, will now benefit from this scheme," said Adhikari.
Flanked by officials including the chief secretary, principal health secretary, and two doctor MLAs, Sharadwat Mukherjee and Indranil Khan, the CM also announced that PM Jan Aushadhi stores will be established across the state, providing medicines at highly discounted prices.
Regarding the HPV vaccination campaign, which was rolled out in Bengal on Saturday at over 200 sites, Adhikari noted that the pan-India campaign was launched on February 28 by the Prime Minister. "We are thankful to JP Naddaji for providing us the free vaccine," he said. In Bengal, 7.6 lakh girls aged 14 years will receive a single dose of the vaccine, with a target to cover all beneficiaries within the next three months.
