Holy Family hospital sinks into financial crisis. Employees blame it on mismanagement

Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College Hospital, known for its facilities and quality medical treatment, has exploded into a financial earthquake, having failed to pay its staff regularly for the past few years.

The financial crisis reached its zenith this year, and the doctors and support staff protested blocking the office of the hospital director on Sep 8 for five months of unpaid salary.

The hospital needs more than Tk 30 million to pay its doctors and staff every month and Tk 17 million to pay the Eid allowances.

It has as much as Tk 76.5 million in dues as parts of salaries for January, February and March.

On May 17, the government ordered Holy Family hospital to provide treatment to the COVID-19 patients.

After it began treating COVID-19 patients, the hospital submitted an invoice worth Tk 30 million for paying the staff salaries in June and another of Tk 42 million for other expenses to the Directorate General of Health Services. They have not prepared the invoice for July.

The staff were paid for June after the DGHS paid the bill on Sept 10.

Founded in 1955 at Moghbazar, the hospital now operates under the aegis of Bangladesh Red Crescent Society. But the hospital runs on its own earnings as Red Crescent Society does not provide financial support.

The 15-strong governing body of Bangladesh Red Crescent Society runs the hospital. The president recruits the chairman of the governing body. MP Hafiz Ahmed Majumdar of Sylhet-5 is the incumbent chairman. The district committee delegates elect the other 14 members and two of them are made vice-chairmen.

After the protest on Sept 8, some of the doctors and staff in Holy Family hospital spoke to bdnews24.com on the condition of anonymity fearing repercussion.

They blamed the incompetence and mismanagement of the governing body for the depressing state in which the hospital now finds itself.

People with administrative incompetence have made it to the governing body due to nepotism, they complained. The governing body then recruited extra workforce at different times but never took an initiative to increase the hospital’s earnings.

The total workforce of 765 at the hospital includes 103 doctors, 256 nurses and 406 staff. No recruitment has been done over the past five years. Worse, many of them have retired.

Teachers, ranging from lecturers to professors, get paid from the medical college treasury while registrars, consultants, medical officers and other staff are paid from the hospital earnings.

They were getting paid but not regularly, but this is the first time they have gone unpaid for five months, said a paediatrician with the hospital. Many of the staff are thinking about quitting, he said.  

“Many of us would have left for a new job but now it's hard to switch job amid the coronavirus pandemic.”

Physicians and staff of Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College Hospital in Dhaka besiege the office of its director Dr Md Morshed, demanding back pay, Sept 9, 2020. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

The quality of service provided in the hospital is quite good, but the number of patients visiting has dropped due to its having an outdated infrastructure, a consultant doctor told bdnews24.com.

Once Holy Family hospital had contracts with different well-known organisations to provide medical treatment to their staff. Those organisations have moved on for new hospitals for better service. The hospital management has taken no initiative to cater the patients better or to attract new ones.

“They can renovate the hospital, they can renew contracts with those organisations. But no one is there to ensure that the hospital makes a profit.”

The biggest reason behind the failure of the hospital is nepotism, said another doctor. The governing body members including the chairman are appointed on the basis of their political views. And most of the chairmen have recruited people surplus to requirements only because of their political affiliation.

“Chairmen are appointed as per their political affiliation. The ruling party controls their recruitment. All the chairmen then go for needless appointments just to have their own people. Many among those recruits are just getting fat salaries without actually doing anything.”

The governing body's incompetence has kept the patients from visiting the hospital, believes a senior professor.

“You need good specialist doctors and you need to gain the trust of the patients. If there is any extra payment made by the patients, the authorities should adjust that. There is no planning here. We have spent the prime years of our lives here. It’s really unfortunate to see my beloved organisation so fragile just when I have  reached the twilight of my life.”

A member of the present governing body blamed their predecessors for the hospital's current state.

Physicians and staff of Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College Hospital in Dhaka besiege the office of its director Dr Md Morshed, demanding back pay, Sept 9, 2020. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

Asked about the issue, the hospital’s Director Prof Mohammad Morshed said he cannot deny the responsibility as the doctors and staff complained that the governing body has failed to bring in more money.

“As the captain of the hospital, I must own up to all failures. I can’t deny it,” he said.

Additional workforce and their increased salaries have led to the current situation, the director believes.

It began in 1991 when the then chairman recruited additional workforce, the member said, and all the chairmen in the following years recruited extra staff in a similar way. The incumbent governing body, however, has made no appointments in the past five years, he added.

The hospital has seen no increase in its earnings but the workforce and their salaries have increased, he said adding they are making efforts to increase income.

“We tried different ways earlier. We’ll try again when the coronavirus epidemic ebbs. We’re introducing a separate dialysis unit and also increasing the number of ICU beds.”At least 400 additional staff have been recruited in the hospital at different times, Professor Habibe Millat, the vice chairman of the governing body, told bdnews24.com.

“The previous committee did all these. But the hospital’s earning never went up. No money will come in from outside since this is a charity. The hospital needs to make its own earnings. It carried a big debt before, which has dropped now.”

In his words, increasing the hospital’s income is the only option left now.

“We’ll meet our officials and staff soon and work out a plan to increase the patient flow. Now we're facing tough competition with other private hospitals. But we can make it if we work together and modernise the hospital,” Prof Millat added.