Mumbai: Patients would have to shell out 50 per cent of charges if they are isolated at a private hospital for the treatment of coronavirus. Senior civic officials said that patients would be given 50 per cent discount if they have a bill above Rs 4,000 as of now. The exact charge to avoid the discount is yet to be decided.
Health officials said this decision has been taken to divide the crowd at Kasturba hospital, as there are chances healthy people might get infected if they queue with patients coming for corona testing. Meanwhile, BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation has selected nine hospitals where patients can get admitted. However, the samples for testing will be sent to Kasturba or King Edward Memorial hospitals.
Dr V Ravishankar, chief operating officer, Lilavati Hospital said talks were on with the BMC commissioner regarding the room rent for the isolation ward. However, they will not be conducting corona tests at their hospitals. “We have set up an isolation ward, but we need to train our staff and make arrangements to keep healthy people. The charges are not decided yet. Patients will be admitted, but their samples will be sent to Kasturba for testing, as we are not allowed to conduct tests at our hospitals,” he said. Suresh Kakan, additional municipal commissioner, BMC, said the isolation ward will be fully functional over a week or 10 days. “Travellers being screened at the Mumbai International Airport will be given an option by doctors to choose between any of these centres if they need isolation,” he said. Soon private labs and hospitals will also be able test for the virus in their hospital. BMC is planning to allow hospitals with lab facilities like Relaince, Hinduja, SRL and Metropolis to allow testing of the virus to decrease the workload at the nodal lab in Kasturba hospital.
