Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Jun 25: The executive director of Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust under the state health and family welfare department, through a press release, has spelt out the norms to be followed by private hospitals as far as treatment of coronavirus patients and charges that can be levied on them are concerned. Through an order dated June 23, the state government has, in the exercise of powers vested with it under National Disaster Management Act, ordered all the private hospitals having the capacity and facilities to treat coronavirus patients, to earmark 50 per cent of their bed capacity for the COVID patients referred by public health institutions.

The government has noted that the number of coronavirus patients has been rising and there is a need to treat all of them. "Currently, they are being treated only in public healthcare institutions. It is mandatory for private hospitals, corporate hospitals, nursing homes etc to get involved with COVID-19 treatment. Including private health providers registered under KPME Act, it has been found necessary to involve them in COVID treatment", the government added.

"In exercise of the National Disaster Management Act 2005, the government had, on June 2, issued an order to reserve 50 per cent of the hospital beds having the facility and capacity to treat COVID patients for the patients referred by public health institutions. The remaining 50 per cent beds can be used for private patients and insurance patients," the note said. The government said that a list of per day limit for treatment charges which can be levied to patients referred by public health institutions and to the patients who directly come to hospitals without the referrals has been provided along with the notification mentioned above.

Coronavirus infection patients who go to private hospitals with reference from public health institutions get treatment free of cost. The government foots their bills. In the case of patients who like to directly go to private hospitals without a referral, the patients meet the bills on their own.

Patient from both BPL and APL categories, migrant workers, and COVID patients who have returned from other states who do not hold ration cards, are treated as eligible under the Pandemic/Situation. Eye and dental hospitals have not been notified for COVID treatment. All the private hospitals, corporate hospitals and nursing homes have to compulsorily share their beds with the government. Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust is the nodal agency which calculates the requested bed capacity in notified private hospitals.

Registration by private hospitals in the web portal of Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust is mandatory. For more information, toll-free Nos. 1800 425 8330 and 1800 425 2646 may be contacted, the press release said.