Cop made to wait for four hours for admission; hospital denies claims

A 57-year-old Mumbai Police personnel, who has tested positive for Covid-19, was allegedly first denied admission at Fortis Hospital, Vashi and was asked to pay ₹2 lakh to get him admitted. However, the personnel was admitted at the hospital after four hours following intervention and authorisation from municipal commissioners of Navi Mumbai and Panvel.

The assistant sub-inspector (ASI), posted with the Protection Branch of the Mumbai Police, tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday. Since he lives in Kamothe, senior police officers asked him to get admitted at Fortis Hospital in Vashi.

Another policeman, who accompanied the ASI to help with admission formalities, said, “The hospital refused to admit him citing jurisdiction issues, and asked me to take him to either a private hospital in Ghansoli or DY Patil Hospital in Nerul.” He also added the hospital administration had asked the ASI’s daughter, a pharmacist, to pay ₹2 lakh. The hospital, however, denied the claim.

When the policeman relayed the issue to his seniors in Mumbai, a team from Vashi police station was sent to request the hospital staff to allow admission. “The hospital staff, however, refused to budge and only agreed when the Navi Mumbai municipal commissioner (Annasaheb Misal) asked them to allow admission,” the officer said.

The ASI was finally admitted at Fortis Hospital around 1am following a payment of ₹20,000 as hospital charges.

Misal, however, said the hospital was following the guidelines to get him admitted in his corporation jurisdiction. “As per government guidelines, every corporation must set up a Covid-19 treatment facility, hence they (Fortis Hospital) asked the policeman to get admitted in a hospital in their (Panvel municipal) corporation. But since he was a police officer, we have allowed him to be admitted last night,” said Misal.

Misal also added that 25 beds have been reserved for police personnel at DY Patil Hospital for Covid-19 treatment.

The hospital in its statement said it was following the guidelines issued by the governing bodies about admitting Covid-19 patients. It further added that if a person from another municipal corporation wants to get admitted, there has to be separate authorisation, following which the patient can be admitted.

“Claims about the hospital demanding ₹2 lakh for admission are completely baseless. The patient was admitted under MPKAY (Maharashtra Police Kutumb Arogya Yojana) scheme. The patient had to wait for approval from the authorities, and not because of financial commitment,” the statement issued by the Fortis Hospital read.