THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A private hospital with NABH accreditation under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) scheme has finally shut down due to financial crisis. Christhos Hospital in Kayamkulam , specialised in gynaecology had been offering affordable treatment to the poor for the past 12 years. The hospital had to down shutters on December 1 since the management was unable to pay the salaries to staff.“The hospital was in crisis since 99% of the patients were RSBY card holders. The rates fixed under the scheme was not viable for the hospital. In addition, government raised the salaries of the nurses,’’ said Dr Ramaraju, president, IMA Kayamkulam unit. The closure of the hospital has reiterated the fact that the RSBY scheme is not a viable option for smaller hospitals.“When a hospital offers treatment only for RSBY patients it is almost like cashless treatment. The hospital will have to source funds on its own till the payment is reimbursed by the government. But the hospital never received the payment on time,’’ said Dr Devin Prabhakar, vice president of Qualified Private Medical Practitioners Association .“Patient load was very high. The 30-bedded private hospital used to perform 150 to 250 uterus removal surgeries and 50 to 70 deliveries per month under BPL health Insurance scheme,’’ said an official of the hospital.When the workload at the hospital increased, the staff demanded a hike in their salaries. “Long hours of work and poor pay scale led to unrest between employees and management which led to its closure,’’ said the official. There is no government support for hospitals under the RSBY scheme. Hence, we are also concerned about signing the pact to implement Ayushman scheme, said Dr Ramaraju. N Ashok Kumar, executive director of CHIAK, nodal agency of RSBY, said he was unaware of the hospital facing such a crisis.

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