Neighbourhood hospital treats victims for free

KOLKATA: The authorities of Unipon Hospital, the private hospital on Paharpur Road in Garden Reach, has not taken any fee for the treatment of the injured victims of the building collapse. The officials said the families of the victims were too poor to be able to pay for the treatment.
“All of them belong to poor families and they have lost everything after the building collapsed on their shanties,” Bidhan Chakraborty, co-founder and medico-legal advisor of Unipon Hospital, told TOI.
Of the 10 people who were taken there, six have already been discharged. Mehetab Alam, whose wife Rizwana Khatoon was released from the hospital on Tuesday evening, said, “The hospital thankfully did not take any money. We cannot afford to pay for the treatment or the medicines. The hospital officials came as a saviour.”
“Three patients, Namita Patra, Sabia Parveen and Rizwana Khatoon were discharged from our hospital on Wednesday. Earlier, we had sent four patients home. Four others are still undergoing treatment but three of them may be released soon. We are keeping the local police station posted about the patient release,” Chakraborty said.
Chakraborty added that they were not taking money from anyone but if the state authority ever offered to compensate for the bills they ran up, they would consider taking the fund.
The family members of the injured are in the dark about who would pay for their subsequent treatment. “The local councillor will supposedly pay but we have not received any assurance from anyone so far,” said Md Samim, a resident.
Md Aslam, a resident of Dhankheti Ramnagar Lane adjacent to the collapse site, said, “If I spend whatever I have in my bank on my daughter Sahin’s treatment, I would be left with nothing. We have not received any help from the local authority. What we need immediately is a shelter.”