Rs18 lakh spent, still bed-ridden; hospital tells girl to get out

As if battling a major spinal cord injury wasn’t bad enough for Vasudha Salvi, 17, and family, they now have to deal with hospital administrators insisting that she be discharged so as to vacate a bed in the ICU.

Thane’s Jupiter hospital, which charged Rs18 lakh over six months, wants the policeman’s daughter shifted to another hospital as its agreement with the police department expired on November 15.

Admitted on May 20 after a fall at her Dombivli home, Vasudha underwent an operation on July 7. She has been on ventilator since, and is recovering from quadriplegia. It needs hospitalisation in the ICU and monitoring by neurologists.

“Till the hospital was getting the bills settled, all was fine. The contract has expired, so they are harassing us to move her,” said her father Shashikant, a constable in Bhiwandi.

Hospital’s doctors and attendants are sympathetic towards Vasudha, but its revenue-driven marketing team seems impatient with the patient.

“She was slated for a procedure on November 30, but the management did not allow the doctors to do it,” said her sister Darshana, a constable.

The management maintains it is urging the Salvis to shift Vasudha to save the police department’s funds. “The state has given limited grant to the police. If too much is spent on one patient, others will be deprived,” said Dr Nandkishore Rankawat, general manager-marketing.

Vasudha’s continuance in the hospital is important from the medical point of view.

Dr Nitin Dange, a neurosurgeon attached to KEM and Lilavati hospitals, said, “It is advisable that the patient be monitored by experts in the hospital. Shifting her in a bad condition can be damaging.”