Covid: No funds for Wenlock Hospital, says RTI reply

District Wenlock hospital, which was converted into a dedicated Covid-19 hospital on March 26 this year, has not received any grants or funds from the government to treat Covid-19 patients free of cost, according to information obtained under RTI.

“Covid-19 Wenlock Hospital had not received any funds from the government for having treated Covid-19 patients free of cost from March 24 to May 31, 2020. But, the hospital had incurred an expenditure of Rs 46,98,117 for procuring equipment in order to treat Covid-19 patients,” informed RTI activist D M Sharique, who had sought information under the RTI Act from the Dakshina Kannada district administration.

Wenlock Hospital is evasive about the treatment cost per patient and declares that all patients were provided with free treatment.

“The infection was confirmed with the help of RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen tests. No treatment cost was recovered from the Covid-19 patients,” informed the hospital.

The information obtained under the RTI puts to rest speculations that Wenlock Hospital was ‘flooded with funds’ for having treated Covid-19 patients free of cost.

Wenlock Hospital, however, refused to respond to a query on the total number of infections confirmed, number of discharges and deaths due to Covid-19.

“Wenlock Hospital has transferred the queries, including the compensation amount paid to kith and kin of those who died from Covid-19 to the district health and family welfare department,” Sharique told DH.

The RTI activist intends to file an appeal based on the response from the district health and family welfare department.