J&K SHA suspends empanelment of four pvt hospitals

Srinagar, Jan 14: Jammu and Kashmir’s State Health Agency (SHA) has tightened its grip on hospitals, suspending the empanelment of four private facilities and imposing penalties for violating AB-PMJAY/SEHAT guidelines, while the fifth one was fined for denying free treatment.
The four private hospitals whose empanelment has been suspended are Shifa Medical Care Srinagar, Florence Hospital Srinagar, Ankur Maitrika Hospital Jammu, and Sood Eye Care Centre Jammu, while the fifth, KLSM Rotary Eye Hospital Udhampur, has only been fined.
The action follows complaints against empaneled healthcare providers, prompting surprise inspections that revealed violations of National Health Authority (NHA) guidelines.
As per an order issued by SHA, it received complaints against Shifa Medical Care Srinagar for violating the guidelines issued by the NHA. The SHA issued show-cause notices to the hospital regarding cases from surprise visit, but it failed to respond within the stipulated time.
“The case of the hospital along with all relevant documents was placed before the State Empanelment Committee during its meeting on 26/12/2024 for decision,” the order said.
As per the order, the SEC, in line with the Hospital Empanelment Guidelines, decided to suspend the hospital for six months and imposed a penalty of Rs 26,15,000 for illegally collecting payments from aggrieved beneficiaries.
The order said in the interest of dialysis patients, the hospital shall continue to provide dialysis treatment to the existing patients under AB PM-JAY/AB PM-JAY SEHAT.
The said penalty amount shall be deposited by the hospital within 5 working days. “In case the hospital fails to deposit the penalty within the stipulated time the same shall be adjusted with the pending payment to the EHCP without any further notice.”
Similarly, in another separate order, the SHA has suspended the empanelment of Florence Hospital in Srinagar for violating the guidelines issued by the NHA.
It said that the case of the hospital along with all the relevant documents was placed before the State Empanelment Committee during its meeting for deliberation/decision.
“The Florence Hospital, Srinagar is hereby suspended for 6 months. However, the hospital shall continue to provide treatment to existing dialysis patients under AB PMJAY/AB PM-JAY SEHAT, Also, a penalty to the tune of Rs 29,7000 is imposed on the hospital for the illegal payments collected from aggrieved beneficiaries,” the order said.
The SHA has also suspended the empanelment of Ankur Maitrika Hospital, Jammu for violating the guidelines issued of the NHA, New Delhi.
“Ankur Maitrika Hospital, Jammu is hereby suspended for 6 months for failing to reply to the show cause notice within the mandated five working days as per Hospital Empanelment and De-empanelment Guidelines,” the SHA order said.
A penalty of Rs 1,027,500 has been imposed on Ankur Maitrika Hospital for illegally collecting payments from beneficiary. The amount must be deposited within five working days, failing which it will be adjusted against pending payments without further notice.
Similarly, the empanelment of the fourth facility Sood Eye Care Centre, Jammu has been suspended for six months for failing to reply to the show cause notice within the mandated five working days as per Hospital Empanelment and De-empanelment Guidelines.
In the fifth hospital case, the SHA J&K said it received a grievance against KLSM Rotary Eye Hospltal, Udhampur for violating the guidelines issued by the NHA.
The SHA order stated that the hospital failed to respond to a show-cause notice and was brought before the State Empanelment Committee, which found it had denied free, cashless treatment, causing the beneficiary to incur Rs 10,000 in expenses.
The KLSM Rotary Hospital has been fined Rs 50,000 as per the Hospital Empanelment Guidelines for illegally collecting payments from the aggrieved beneficiary.
Officials said that once the six-month suspension period is over, the SHA will take a decision and review it.