Odisha Govt Removes Kalinga Hospital From Fund List

Bhubaneswar: The state government has excluded Kalinga Hospital from the Odisha State Treatment Fund (OSTF) list, Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Das informed the Assembly on Saturday.

Das said a four-member inter-ministerial probe committee had found that the Kalinga Hospital authorities had misbehaved with BJP MLA Mohan Majhi. On the basis of the committee’s report, the state government has kept the hospital out of the OSTF list until further orders.

Das said he has also directed the Director Medical Education & Training (DMET) to probe into similar complaints against private hospitals in the state.

Notably, Majhi had told the Assembly on July 1 that he has seen the poor getting exploited by Kalinga Hospital authorities. He urged the Speaker to intervene in the matter.

The Speaker later directed the Health and Family Welfare Minister to form a ministerial-level committee to probe into the matter.

According to media reports, the son of Basudeb Barik from Naradpur village in Keonjhar’s Jhumpura block had died on June 29 while undergoing treatment at Kalinga Hospital. Though Basudeb had paid all the medical bills, the hospital refused to hand over his son’s and demanded more money.

Basudeb later informed Majhi, who arrived at the hospital and requested the DGM and officials of the accounts department to release the body. But the hospital authorities refused to do so. Majhi also alleged that he was insulted and the hospital authorities misbehaved with him.