Health Directorate: explanations about the fraud of Regent & JKG
Health Directorate has explained the fraud of Regent Hospital and Jobeda Khatun Health Care (JKG).
On Saturday (July 11) Directorate of Health (Coordination) gave an explanation in a press release signed by Dr. Md. Jahangir Kabir, Assistant Director (Coordination) of the directorate.
It said some legal actions had recently been taken against the Regent Hospital for fraud. News of various scams of Shahed Karim, owner of the hospital is also coming out. The Directoratet of Health was not aware of it before. In March this year, the number of Covid-19 patients in the country suddenly increased. No private hospital wanted to admit Covid patients. But many patients preferred private hospitals or clinics. At such a juncture, the Regent Hospital authorities expressed interest in dedicating the two clinics at Uttara and Mirpur in Dhaka as Covid Hospitals. The hospital department of the health directorate took the initiative to sign the memorandum of understanding under the direction of the higher authorities of the ministry.
However, during the inspection of the two clinics, the medical environment was found to be suitable, but the licenses of the two clinics were not renewed.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on March 21, 2020 with Regent Hospital on the condition of renewal of licenses to encourage other private hospitals to provide medical facilities to Covid patients at the private level. Before the signing of this memorandum of understanding, the Director General of the Directorate of Health is far from being known about Shahed Karim except knowing him distantly in the talk shows. However, after signing the memorandum of understanding, Shahed visited the health dirctorate several times.
At this time Shahed used to try to talk to him about the contacts of various eminent persons and the presence of Covid-infected relatives of some eminent persons in his clinics. According to intelligence and other sources, some complaints about Regent Hospital were coming to the directorate. In this context, on 6 July 2020, a joint operation was launched by RAB in the presence of a representative of the Directorate of Health. The Directorate’s position on the Memorandum of Understanding between the Directorate and Regent Hospital is clear. The Directorate has been deceived into pursuing a noble cause and has shut down the organization in accordance with the July 6, 2020 Act.
Naturally the memorandum of understanding has no more value. Our expectation is that those involved in this fraud will be appropriately punished under the law. In this context, it is learned that in collaboration with the law enforcement agencies and on its own initiative, the Directorate has increased the number of surprise visits to various private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers which will continue.
In this context, I would like to explain the position of the Directorate of Health regarding the fraud of another organization called Jobeda Khatun Health Care (JKG).
Ariful Chowdhury, the chief coordinator of the company, is also the owner of an event management group called Oval Group Limited. The Oval Group is responsible for the event management of Health Services Week 2018 organized by the Ministry of Health. Oval Group also manages multiple events of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA), an organization of medical professionals.
After the Covid crisis started, Ariful Chowdhury came to the health directorate and said that he was the chief coordinator of a voluntary organization called Jobeda Khatun Health Care (JKG). JKG Group wants to set up some booths in Bangladesh on South Korean model. Samples for PCR testing will be collected through these booths and supplied to the PCR laboratories of the Directorate of Health. There is no need to pay any money to the health directorate or the government for this. The Ministry of Health or the Directorate of Health felt that the JKG group should be allowed because of the good idea and the need to increase the collection of Covid test samples, on the basis of previous experience of working with the Oval Group.
The traditional Titumir College authorities also extended a helping hand to the JKG Group in the spirit of being associated with a good cause. The Directorate of Health later revoked the permission to operate the booth granted to the JKG Group after allegations of fraud were detected. The Directorate of Health is a service oriented organization. So JKG was allowed with the main goal and goodwill of expanding Covid health care quickly. There was no idea that the organization could cheat.
It is pertinent to mention that lately, some vested interested quarters are trying to tarnish the image of the Directorate of Health by misleading the media with imaginary and false information. The officials and employees of the Directorate and field level officials are working hard day and night to deal with the catastrophe like Covid with utmost strength and dedication. No one had any previous experience with this disease. The position of the organization is clear if any officer or employee takes refuge in dishonesty or injustice. If the crime is proved, everyone expects to be punished according to the law.
However, in many cases the general limitations of the organization and the system are not taken into account. Instead of sympathy, oblique remarks and fragmented and distorted information are being presented. Attempts to assassinate personal character by spreading indecent information are also seen. We think that low self-interest is also working behind all this. The situation is such that loyal officials are no longer comfortable in explaining the situation to the media. As a result, more and more confusion is spreading. If anyone commits a crime, it will be caught in the investigation and also punished. That is why it is not desirable to kill the character of an innocent person with false information and portray them as criminals. The Directorate of Health seeks everyone's attention and cooperation in this regard.