Government made COVID-19 treatment deal with Regent Hospital. But it had no licence to operate

The health directorate entered into a contract with Regent Hospital to provide treatment for COVID-19 disease under ‘special considerations’ even though the private hospital had no licence.

Health Minister Zahid Malik and Abul Kalam Azad, director general of the Directorate General of Health Services or DGHS, and other high officials were present during the signing of the deal on Mar 21 this year.

Aminul Hasan, DGHS director (hospitals and clinics), on Wednesday said Regent Hospital was given the contract on condition that it get the licence renewed.

“They came forward to provide service. We were looking for such hospitals at the time. That’s why they were given the permission under special considerations… they were reminded twice (to renew their licence), but they didn’t.”

Aminul added that the hospital was supposed to provide free COVID-19 treatment but they charged patients.

Regent Hospital forwarded a bill of Tk 19.4 million to the health directorate after treating COVID-19 patients. But the DGHS did not settle the bill as the hospital did not abide by the condition.

The authorities shut down the headquarters and a branch of Regent Hospital on Jul 6 in Dhaka’s Uttara on charges of issuing fake COVID-19 test reports after the Rapid Action Battalion or RAB raided the Uttara branch.

The RAB has launched a manhunt for the hospital’s chairman, Mohammad Shahed, in a case started over alleged irregularities.

The RAB initiated a case against Shahed and 16 others at Uttara West Police Station. The law enforcers arrested eight people who were detained in the operations on Monday.

RAB Executive Magistrate Sarwoer Alam on Wednesday told bdnews24.com that the hospital’s licence expired in 2014 and the RAB had launched three raids on the hospital over the matter since then, at the Uttara branch in 2016 and 2017 and at the Mirpur branch in 2018.

He said that he had led the raid on the Mirpur branch and discovered a host of irregularities, including cases of fake reports at that time as well.

“During the drive on Mirpur branch, we saw that they cooked rice using heaters in the operation theatre.”

The hospital’s setting appeared to have changed little during the raid on Monday, Sarwoer said.

The family of a youth who died with COVID-19 symptoms on Jun 9, two days after getting admitted there, was handed a bill of Tk 45,000. The youth’s uncle told bdnews24.com that they were charged fees for sample testing by the hospital administration despite none being carried out.

“In fact, we went there being in a lot of trouble. But the situation there was horrible. The boy died without any treatment but we were still handed a bill of Tk 48,000. We paid up Tk 42,000,” he said.

The youth’s uncle added that they had to pay Tk 3,000 more for COVID-19 test though the results were yet to arrive.

Before this, the hospital claimed ICU bills worth Tk 15,000 per day from the relatives of a patient since Mar 18.

Responding to the allegations, Regent Hospital’s Public Relations Officer Tariq Shibli claimed that COVID-19 tests were carried out there free of cost. But the government does not bear the expenses of treatment of COVID-19 patients suffering from other ailments.

He also said that ‘the mistake’ over ICU bills from March was resolved and it could be confirmed by calling the patient’s daughter.

A relative of the patient told bdnews24.com over the phone that they had no complaints against the hospital in this matter. The patient passed away four days after the incident.

However, another relative of the patient on Wednesday said the hospital staff had ‘threatened to kick them out’ of the ICU for revealing the matter to the media. But everyone had remained tight-lipped due to the critical condition of the patient.

A doctor of the hospital, asking to remain anonymous, claimed that he had no clue about the hospital not having a licence and that the allegations put the doctors in an ‘embarrassing situation’.

Another doctor told bdnews24.com that Shahed used to claim to be a close acquaintance of Tarique Rahman during BNP’s regime.