Hry cardiac care centres on PPP in need of funds

Chandigarh: The cardiac care centres operating on public private partnership (PPP) mode in the four civil hospitals are heading towards ventilator support, thanks to arrears worth over Rs 22 crore pending with the health department on account of reimbursements.In a bid to provide affordable cardiac treatment of angioplasty, in 2017, the Haryana health department had started one cardiac centre each in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Panchkula and Ambala civil hospitals with the collaboration of the Meditrina group of hospitals, which had signed the MoU after an investigation.After their success, the health authorities had started the dialysis centres in the hospitals on PPP mode.The govt has plans of extending the facilities of cardiac care centres to more district hospitals. According to the MoU, the cardiac centres will provide services to Ayushman card holders, Haryana govt employees, BPL card holders of the state and SCBC of the state free of cost and the bills would be paid by the department in 90 days of submission of bills and claims. According to authorities, for over a year and a half , the bills have piled up and arrears have crossed Rs 22 crore which has put the management of the hospitals in a fix. Now, the management is mulling to discontinue free services to these categories and to deal with cash payments only. “A financial crisis has emerged as the major hurdle in the day-to-day operations of the centres. We cannot refuse treatment, but we don't have sufficient funds to man the machines and manpower,” said a functionary while elaborating upon the meeting with director general of health services (DGHS) Manish Bansal and additional chief secretary, health, Sudhir Rajpal. It would not be possible for us to entertain free treatment of various card holders, the official said. Meanwhile, despite repeated efforts, both Rajpal and Bansal remained incommunicable. These centers currently boast a footfall of around 500 patients in any working day in the outpatient department, which includes 40 patients undergoing the procedures of angiography and angioplasty and 100 to 150 patients undergoing various clinical examinations linked to cardiac issues. The Ambala centtre in Sept had created a record of 40 angioplasties in a day, which had been appreciated by the health department. When contacted, health and family welfare minister Arti Singh Rao assured to look into the matter. “Now, this matter has come to my knowledge. We shall get it examined and appropriate action shall follow accordingly. We are committed to delivering best and affordable health services to people,” she said. Rao said CM Nayab Singh Saini has sanctioned a supplementary budget of Rs 50 crore for the services on PPP and this will cover all services but shall examine this one as well, she said.