Sambalpur: The district police Thursday arrested five middlemen from the Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) at Burla for allegedly diverting patients to private clinics. They were later in the day forwarded to court and remanded to police custody.
“The accused were influencing patients and their kin and diverting them to private clinics for treatment. They were also demanding money for providing medicines. Detailed investigation into the incident is underway and based on the questioning of the five the number of arrests might go up,” said Sambalpur SP Kanwar Vishal Singh.
Notably, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday instructed Superintendents of Police to eradicate middlemen from state-run hospitals and other medical facilities. Naveen gave the direction while interacting with Collectors, SPs, chief district medical officers (CDMOs) and doctors about the ‘Mo Sarkar’ initiative which will be launched October 2, to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
However, it remains to be seen whether the arrest of the five from VIMSAR will lead to the clean-up of the system. This is just the tip of the iceberg, some patients and their families alleged at the hospital premises. They said many more such ‘brokers’ were still present at the VIMSAR campus to influence people and lure them away to private hospitals.
PNN