06 April 2010
Ahmedabad, India
Students protest fee hike at VS Hospital campusAMC cleared the proposal recently to hike medical charges by 25 per cent to 300 per cent for different facilities at the hospital.
Justifying the fee hike, deputy municipal commissioner, Capt Dilip Mahajan said, “It has been done after eight years.”
VS Hospital, a multi–activity and multi–specialist institute, was founded in 1931, with an initial capital of Rs 4 lakh and 120 beds.
The ventilator facility has been increased from Rs 500 to Rs 1500, bed charges from Rs 200 to Rs 300 for patients not from below poverty line (BPL) families and for BPL families from Rs 100 to Rs 200. Portable X zray facility has been doubled from Rs 75 to Rs 150.
Taking a critical view of the hike in charges new charges, leader of opposition in AMC, Surendra Baxi said, “VS hospital was founded on land donated by Vadilal Sarabhai for affordable medical treatment to poor and middle class family. Sadly, there has been more than hundred per cent increase in the charges in facilities provided by the AMC–run hospital. We are going to raise the issue with officials concerned”.
Ironically, earlier, Congress members in VS hospital committee had failed to raise the issue during its committee meeting in which the charges were proposed.
The hospital treats about five lakh patients annually, averaging 1,600 patients a day and carries out about 25,000 surgeries annually. Number of beds are 1,115.
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