Contracts with violating hospitals terminated

Guilty hospitals required to return stolen funds

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) announced, yesterday, that it would terminate contracts with second category hospitals, currently under investigation. These contracts will remain terminated until publishing the results in the public financial prosecutor.

According to the MOPH, these hospitals have wasted millions of dollars on unnecessary treatments, since 2008. Wael Abou Faour, Minister of Public Health, said: “This decision is part of the reforming policy conducted by the Ministry.”

The Ministry signed $280 million contracts with first category hospitals and $30 million with second category hospitals. The latter are for long residential, and take care of coma cases, physiotherapy, among others.

The violations made by some second category hospitals included taking dues from patients, besides the $17 daily amount paid for daily residence by the Ministry. Abou Faour said: “MoPH will raise the daily residence dues to $37 a day.”

Some hospitals have issued medical cards to cover coma patients, but the investigative committee assigned by the Ministry did not find any patients. Some patients in those hospitals are fake patients or passed away since 2008. The ministry paid $37 million as a cost for these violations.

The MOPH referred these hospitals and three supervising physicians to the public prosecutor. This may lead to withdrawing their licenses. Abou Faour said that violating hospitals are required to return the money obtained fraudulently. Some hospitals are required to return $415,000 and others $620,000 in stolen funds.

Abou Faour said: “A new mechanism will be applied to supervise second category hospitals.”