SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, April 28: Jeevan Rekha Trust has offered dialysis at Rs 150 to beleaguered poor Ayushman Bharat patients who have been gasping for treatment in wake of empanelled private nursing homes in the district.
The life of over 400 poor dialysis patients in the district is at stake since April 15 as the empanelled private nursing homes in Dhanbad have refused to do dialysis and treatment due to pending bills of premium on the state government.
Secretary of the Jeevan Rekha Trust Rajiv Sharma said that the trust has decided to bail out the patients of Ayushman Bharat whose dialysis is stopped. The trust will arrange their dialysis at Asian Jalan Dwarika Memorial Hospital at Rs 150 only so that they do not suffer from the row between the government and empanelled hospitals.
In Dhanbad, 36 hospitals including 25 private nursing homes are empanelled with the Ayushman Bharat scheme to provide free treatment to listed patients. As per the official record, over 400 patients are given dialysis at least twice a week.
“Dialysis is a continuous process. The patient having increased creatinine/ urea level needs dialysis for survival. Since poor patients are suffering due to the closure of dialysis under Ayushman Bharat, the trust would continue providing them with a dialysis facility at Rs 150 till the scheme is restored in the empanelled health centres,” said Rajiv Sharma.
Jeevan Rekha Trust secretary said since the number of Ayushman patients is big, if needed, Asian Jalan Hospital would provide dialysis even at night. The facility has been started on Wednesday having seen the critical condition of some of them.
Dialysis charge at Dhanbad’s private hospitals ranges from Rs 1500 to Rs 2500. Sadar hospital charges Rs 1048. At Shahid Nirmal Mahto Medical College Hospital it is provided for free but owing to the massive rush of patients, Ayushman Bharat patients do not get the chance.
Rajiv Sharma said that three breaks in dialysis create major problems for patients as their blood pressure and other complications shoot up. “So as long as the situation becomes normal, the trust would continue dialysis at Rs 150.”
Jeevan Rekha Trust chairman Ramesh Kumar Gutgutia, Keshav Kumar Harodia, Sanjiv Kumar and Arvind Dalmia were present at the meeting.
