JEDDAH, 5 June 2007 — A private hospital in Madinah refused to transfer a 15-year-old patient to a public hospital unless his family met treatment costs that the teenager incurred at the hospital after being hit by a car last Thursday. According to the boy’s uncle, awkward hospital regulations have left the family distressed.
Samir Salim Al-Saadi was left in a coma after being hit by a car while crossing the Al-Hijra Road in Madinah and was transferred by the Red Crescent to the nearest hospital, which happened to be the private Saudi German Hospital. According to Samir’s uncle, the boy’s mother, a widow, was left distressed, Al-Madinah newspaper reported.
Samir’s uncle Musalam Al-Saadi said that when Samir’s family found out about the accident they went to the hospital. “We told the director that Samir’s father is dead and that his family cannot afford the treatment. They told us that they would take the expenses from the Health Affairs Office in Madinah,” said Musalam.
“They made us sign a paper stating that we agreed to Samir undergoing an operation… When he became a little stable, we wanted to transfer him to the King Fahd Hospital (a government hospital) but the hospital refused to release Samir unless we paid SR47,000,” he said. “We negotiated with them and they reduced the amount to SR17,000. We reminded them of what they said before, but they refused to let us go unless we paid the entire sum. I collected SR14,500 but they refused to accept it unless I paid the entire amount,” he said.
“The case was especially critical because the King Fahd Hospital told us that they had an empty bed and we had three hours to bring the patient. We said we would pay up in seven days to get Samir released,” said Musalam. Samir’s family called the medical director to inform him about the deadline but the manger told him that he was not at work and asked them to contact him later.
“A generous, kind man, who heard us talking at the hospital, offered to provide us with the extra money to meet the deadline,” said the uncle, adding that they were able to reach the hospital just in time.
Musalam added, the private hospital made use of their ignorance and his nephew’s condition . “If we knew that they would do this, we would have insisted on transferring him to the King Fahd Hospital from the start,” said Musalam, adding the family will be lodging a complaint against the hospital.
The manager of the private hospital told Al-Madinah newspaper that the hospital authorities had not prevented the family from transferring Samir and that the bill still needs paying. “If the family cannot afford to pay the money then they can provide some of it now and sign a paper stating that they will pay the rest later,” he told Al-Madinah.
