JANAKPURDHAM, Feb 17: As legitimate hospital operators continue to complain about ambulance drivers and brokers demanding high commissions before sending patients, making it difficult for hospitals to meet service standards, Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh impersonated an ambulance driver and spoke to a private hospital’s security guard over the phone in a recently surfaced video.
Madhesh Province Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh has stated that illegal and unauthorized private hospitals in Janakpur are overcrowded with patients, while hospitals that meet the required standards and have received approval to operate have remained underutilized for the past few days.
He has also accused ambulance drivers and brokers of actively transporting patients to private hospitals for commissions. Moreover, he has claimed that these individuals are irresponsibly operating private hospitals without proper authorization.
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Chief Minister Singh posed as Saroj, the driver of ambulance number 3112, and claimed to have brought a high-paying patient. The hospital’s security guard then advised him to take the patient to the nearby Godawari Hospital, as Janakpur Model Hospital had closed at 12 PM on Sunday due to inspections.
In the video, the chief minister, acting as an ambulance driver, asks whether Godawari Hospital offers a good commission. The security guard responds that the matter requires further discussion.
The security guard’s statements in the video clearly show that government inspections have instilled fear and panic among those running hospitals improperly. The viral video confirms that private hospitals, including Janakpur Model Hospital, have been offering ambulance drivers commissions based on patients’ financial status to bring them in.
Chief Minister Singh's government inspection team has summoned Janakpur Model Hospital’s operators to the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers on Monday, demanding CCTV footage from Saturday and Sunday.
