Gurugram: Chiranjivi hospital, a private facility, has now been booked for charging people for Covid vaccinations even on days the hospital had no stocks. The complaint against the hospital was officially filed by the Gurugram health department.
The police here have begun their initial probe into the purported fraud being perpetrated against ordinary citizens who booked their vaccination slots at the hospital.
The Gurugram health department swung into action after a complaint was lodged by a 33-year-old woman. According to the woman, on July 3, she had booked a slot through Co-WIN in the hospital for getting vaccinated. When she reached the hospital, she was instead taken to a government center for getting vaccinated. The woman expressed her displeasure of the hospital taking the entire amount of money and making her vaccinated in the government center which provides vaccines for free.
She then went to the Gurugram health department with her complaint.
The initial probe by officials of the Gurugram health department led to even more startling revelations: On June 26, June 27 and July 1 the hospital did not have any Covid vaccines in stock, they charged and vaccinated up to 53 people. This finding prompted the health department to approach the police for a criminal complaint against the hospital.
"We have registered a case against the private hospital and have begun our investigations. We are still in the initial stages of the probe. Along with questioning the hospital staff, we will also be questioning the people who were reportedly fooled by the hospital," said Inspector Dinesh Kumar, Station House Officer (SHO) of the Sadar Police Station, where the case is registered.
Saying that the matter was under probe, staffers and officials of Chiranjivi Hospital refused to speak on it.
This is the first instance where fraud and corruption have been reported from a massive vaccination drive that is being undertaken in Gurugram.
The district has so far vaccinated over 15 lakh people with at least one dose but only 3 lakh people have been fully vaccinated.
A vaccine shortage has forced the district to ration its stocks. And on Tuesday, it pushed the administration to save all available stocks to administer only the second dose. And the urgency of this move was required because the vaccine shortage before this had not allowed those due for their second shot to get slots in time.
Private hospitals have played an important role in making sure that a large number of people receive inoculation - especially given Gurugram's urban population.
Remarkably, despite paid vaccinations, the largest number of vaccinations in Gurugram are still happening in major superspecialty hospitals as compared to government centres that provide free vaccines.
There are over 50 private hospitals in Gurugram that are providing vaccinations. All these private hospitals are procuring vaccines by themselves from the suppliers.