Private hospitals assure no profit making during pandemic

Islamabad : Islamabad's private hospitals have assured the district administration that they won’t make profits during the COVID-19 pandemic and would charge patients only for diagnosis and treatment costs while providing the best care to them.

The development comes during a meeting between deputy commissioner Muh­am­mad Hamza Shafqaat and representatives of the hospitals on the issue of exorbitant charges.

According the DC, the hospitals raised the issues of the scarcity of doctors, cost of personal protective equipment, expenditure of special air filter systems in COVID-19 isolation wards, and incentives for nurses and staff deployed in those wards.

They, however, agreed not to make profits during the pandemic and charge patients diagnosis and treatment costs only.

The hospitals also said they would launch e-monitoring at the home of patients at nominal rates as not all could be admitted there due to exponential increase in cases. Through this monitoring mechanism, doctors and staff will visit patients at their houses, check their vitals and prescribe treatment regime. This will reduce patient load on both public and private hospitals. The government will add 100 beds (Federal General Hospital, Chak Shahzad) in the health system in the next three days for treating patients, who can't afford any medical care.

The DC said the only way to deal with the emergency was to wear face masks, wash hands properly after every 30 minutes, and stay at a distance from other people.

“I would request everyone to be very polite and cooperative with the healthy professionals. They are putting their lives at risk. More than 100 health workers have tested positive for the virus in our city. They are here to make sure that we stay safe. Let's honour them. Trust them. Let us all work together to fight this disease,” he said.