Private hospitals in Mancherial appease ambulance drivers with Goa trips

Mancherial: Greedy managements of certain private hospitals in Mancherial district centre are exploring newer ways to draw patients and to improve their businesses. They are reportedly throwing lavish parties at Goa and other popular tourist spots to drivers and owners of ambulance vehicles for referring patients to their hospitals. “The management of a hospital sponsored […]

Mancherial: Greedy managements of certain private hospitals in Mancherial district centre are exploring newer ways to draw patients and to improve their businesses. They are reportedly throwing lavish parties at Goa and other popular tourist spots to drivers and owners of ambulance vehicles for referring patients to their hospitals.

“The management of a hospital sponsored the trip of a batch of drivers to Goa and the cost of accommodation and beverages for somewhere between a week and four days in March. The total expenditure of the trip was Rs 1 lakh. Another batch of drivers visited the tourist spot in February. The drivers operate ambulances at various hospitals of Mancherial town,” a driver told Telangana Today.

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Usually, few hospitals contribute somewhere between Rs 50,000 to 1 lakh to the joy trips. The managements are arranging the trips to drivers of not only Mancherial district but also Bellampalli, Chennur, Kagaznagar, Mandamarri towns. A batch of drivers from Bellampalli town is scheduled to fly to Goa on Tuesday. The trip was sponsored by a section of hospitals of Mancherial town.

40 per cent commissions, gifts, loans
Similarly, the management of some private nursing homes are gifting mobile phones and gold ornaments to the drivers to appease them. They are extending loans to drivers and some of them are purchasing ambulance vehicles for them. They are already offering at least 40 per cent commission on the total cost of medical services charged to a patient, brought by a driver. A few ambulance drivers, who earned good amount of money had even established a hospital in heart of the town, with the help of a doctor.

The district centre has 53 private ambulance vehicles. A total of 30 spots have been identified to park the ambulances. The spots are bought by some hospitals by spending Rs 25,000 each. In all, the drivers are deciding the flow of patients to 90 percent of hospitals in the town. As a result, the management of certain hospitals are trying to lure the drivers.

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