Nationalization of Private Hospitals during Pandemic Situation

An Academic Term Paper Submitted to Ms Sujata Bhatta for Partial Fulfilment for the

Requirement of the Course EDENG 722 Academic Writing

Parmeshor Baral

M.Phil. in English Education, II Semester

Roll No.: 75153148

Nepal Open University

Manbhavan, Lalitpur

2020
 Nationalization of Private Hospitals during Pandemic Situation

Abstract
Hospitals need to play very active role to combat pandemic condition since the

establishment of hospitals are made to facilitate the lives of people during extreme condition.

Moreover, all the organs of the nation should join hand in hand to combat with the pandemic

condition that the country has been suffering from. This paper is an attempt to find out the

usefulness of nationalizing the private hospital during the time when the country is hit by

pandemic condition. Moreover, it presents the ideas that what happens once the private

hospitals are nationalized and what sorts of feelings people have towards health condition

once all the hospitals of the nation are take care by the government. For this a survey has

been made using the secondary sources in which different news from different media were

analysed and the scenario of the world about pandemic condition has been analysed. The

conclusion is that the government should nationalize all the hospitals for making the

countrymen that there will be proper care of all citizens.

Keywords
Nationalization, private hospitals, pandemic, government, public health

Introduction
The role of government in public health is very important because it is the

government which ensures the proper health condition of an individual resident of a nation

(World Health Organization, 2018). Moreover, it is expected by the residents of a nation that

it is only the government who is responsible for their cure once there are epidemics like

cholera, SARS, COVID-19, etc. Here the concern is not that of silent epidemics like smoking

led cancer, HIV positive or other diseases rather the main issue here is overt epidemics like
the one which is terrifying the nation, called Coronavirus. As the terror of Coronavirus is

spreading in all the nations in the world, its preventive measures are also being strategized by

different nations in the world. Contrary to this some of the hospitals in Nepal shut their doors

mentioning that they are incapable of combating with the flu. The idea seems very absurd

because those institutes which provide basic level of facilities should be hyper active during

the time when the county needs. Therefore, the issue of reopening those hospitals by taking

over the management by the government is what the public discourse prevalent in Nepal as

the pandemic is about to take place in the country.

Each and every hospital established in with a motive of curing patient in any country

of the world should provide proper care of patients irrespective of any visible or invisible

motive (World Health Organization, retrieved on 2 May 2020) and nationalization of the

hospitals should be done if the hospitals become reluctant to take care of patients. It is

because when they obtained the licence from the government, they promised to do so in one

hand and on the other no tax was levied to them since the service they have been providing is

a noble cause. On the other side, for the purchase of medical equipment, the government has

subsided as well levied tax on those medical equipment (MOH, 2019, retrieved on 2 May,

2020). Moreover, all the hospitals of the country, irrespective of their category – private,

community or state ran- are given equal rights by the government that whenever need arises,

they could do benevolent work for countrymen (Andaleeb, 2000). Even if it might not be

done in a long run but when the country is hit by pandemic condition, the state should take

over the management of private hospital until the pandemic condition is over and if it can be

done, each countrymen could have positive feeling toward the nation as well as thinking

positively prevents them from suffering from diseases too. Therefore, when the country

desperately needs medical attention to the countrymen most of the hospitals in Nepal

have been reluctant and refusing in some cases to get admission of the patients which is
very wrong and unethical, without any reservation private as well as public hospitals

should resume their quality service to the countrymen without any delay and if not

done, the government should take over them and nationalize with aim of providing

service irrespective of any creed and motive.

Methods

The heart of any inquiry is the methodology one employs to arrive at the sound

conclusion which is based on the coherence between research objectives, methodology and

analysis and interpretation (Creswell and Creswell, 2018). Being a descriptive research, the

methodology in carrying out and data analysis is also done in a descriptive way (Bhatta,

2018). To find the views of nationalization of private hospitals in Nepal a case study research

methodology has been employed. For the same examples, techniques and consequences of

privatization of hospitals are brought forward. For the same many news published in leading

media have been chosen as the data for the present study. Even if the presented data in the

present study look like secondary but in such researches, secondary source of data is used.

The case of privatization of hospitals has been justified by incorporating the instances from

different newspapers and television news around the world.

Results and Discussion

Should not a country ensure that the countrymen will have no any sort of physical,

mental, health and social problem when the country is hit by the pandemic condition since

during such time all mechanism of the nation should work hand in hand to make the lives of

countrymen better? For the same country is trying its best to combat with the pandemic

condition but some of its important variables are to be reluctant to function smoothly

mentioning different ground (Basu, Kishore, Panjabi, & Stuckler, 2012). One among them is

private hospitals and such private hospitals are refusing to get admission to patients on the
ground that they are not medically ready for curing such patients. This sounds futile argument

on their part in the sense that a hospital which has the provision of its own helipad, has state

of art medical and infrastructural facilities; how can it say that it is unable to purchase

personal protective equipment, face-masks and other necessary medical equipment which are

worn by medical professionals while curing the patients who are suspect of world prevailing

and havoc creating virus- Coronavirus? The Himalayan Times (2020 April 2, retrieved on 17th

April 2020). On this ground, instead of closing the main gate, if private hospitals join hand in

hand with the government to cure the patient without any hesitation, they can ask for

compensation of the loss occurred because of lockdown in one hand and on the other hand,

their name and fame will also be very good in front of general public of the country. Hence, it

is very necessary for all the mechanisms of the nation to work collaboratively when the

country is hit by the pandemic condition and the one who works for the betterment of people

during worst time is the real hero of the nation in the eyes of its countrymen.

If hospitals and other medical institutions become reluctant to admit patients who

have been suffering from flu when the country is in a pandemic situation, they are just doing

business and if medical facilities providing institutions have such motive, the government has

to seize the hospitals without any delay. In this regard, The Business Insider (2020 April 15,

retrieved on 17 April 2020) contends that Salvador Illa, the Health Minister of Spain ordered:

"fourth-year medical students in Spain would be asked to help the country's health service

while companies capable of producing medical equipment should get in touch with the

government and no one will be an employee of private hospitals". Moreover, The News18

(2020 April 12, retrieved on April 16, 2020) reports that “The Spanish government has

nationalised all its private hospitals and healthcare providers in the country in its latest move

to fight the spread of Coronavirus.” The decision of the Spanish government is seen very

praiseworthy since if all the hospitals are being managed by the government itself, there will
be no discrimination for the patients. In Nepal too, the government should take over private

hospitals and make them dedicated hospitals to combat this pandemic condition (Thapa,

2020). He, Thapa (2020), argued that when something is desperately needed which has

flourished by yourself and if the same does not help, what is the use of it. Here Thapa's

(2020) indication clearly mentions that all hospitals are being taken care by the government

by various means and whatever the government wants, those hospitals should be nationalized

without any reservation.

Not only the nationalization of hospitals help maintain proper care of the patients but

also every citizen of the country considers that s/he will not die from any of the diseases

when the country is hit by pandemic condition if the all the healthcare facilities are accessible

to the general public. It is because whenever the production houses, service sectors, and other

public enterprises are run by the government, there will be the fair treatment for all the

residents of the country (Global China Daily, 2020 April 6, retrieved on 16th April 2020).

Moreover, it will not make them deprived of getting medical facilities due to lack of finance

since the medical facilities will be provided to all citizens without any cost as such.

Therefore, the decision made by the government of Spain to nationalize all the hospitals and

medical institutions is very praiseworthy which ensures proper medical care to all the people

of the country and the same has to be done in Nepal without any delay which makes people

think that there is a government to look them after during such adverse situation.

Moreover, in such a pandemic situation the role of administrators especially health

minister and the head of state should be proactive to take effective measures and the country

should be declared as the state of emergency (BBC, 2020 April 11, retrieved on 16th April

2020) and due to not being serious about the matter, the health minister of New Zealand was

demoted as an assistant minister and Brazilian health minister was sacked by the president

because of not being active to combat the flu (The Guardian, April 6, retrieved on 17th April
2020). In the same way, similar dissatisfaction about the role of an administrator [of health

minister] has also been heard (The Kathmandu Post, 2020 April 2, retrieved on 17th April

2020) in Nepal too. On the other hand, in Nepal institutional corruption was also rumoured

by the intellectual spheres while purchasing the medical equipment and medicines needed to

test and combat COVID-19. Even the blame was attributed for not purchasing from G to G

base (Government to Government), rather the contract was given to a private company which

was run by one of the relatives of ruling minister (The Himalayan Times, 2020 April 2,

retrieved on 17th April 2020)

On the other side of spectrum, it is extremely necessary for the head of nation and

other senior members of the government should be very active but also it is equally important

for the countrymen for the easier access of health care facilities. Besides these, after

declaring the country as a state of emergency, the next move the government should make is

to make the health care facilities easily accessible to all countrymen. Therefore, during the

pandemic situation the head of the institution and other concerned people should play a very

active role and should make people feel comfortable that the pandemic will not make them

(countrymen) be in a difficult situation and lockdown is imposed for people's safety (The

Hindustan Times, 2020 April 4, retrieved on 17 April 2020). Even India is severely hit by the

pandemic Coronavirus, the president has been playing phenomenal role and motivating

people to stay inside the house in one and on the other he is urging for the national unity as

national unity plays very significant role during such time.

Some people also argue that during such pandemic condition personal safety is of uttermost

importance (The Kathmandu Post, 2020 March 30, retrieved on 18 April 2020) and because

of which they could not provide their services to the needy people who come to their

hospitals. In this connection one of the nurses asserted their [hospital's] inability which was
published in The Himalayan Times (2020 April 2, retrieved on 18th April 2020) that “We

refer patients of high fever to Sukraraj [Tropical] hospital,” She told... “We are running our

emergency ward, isolation ward, and intensive care services only. We do not have personal

protective equipment and safety gear to look after patients of fever. "She said that some

doctors and nurses serving at the hospital are concerned about getting infected by COVID-19.

So, the statement clearly states that how concerned the medical professional is for their

safety, and without any hesitation, they assert that they are deprived of such equipment that is

used to while taking care of such patients and the sole reason for creating such a situation has

been blamed to the government. Here the argument is useless in the sense that it is the

government who has ensured the personal safety of all the health professional and how can a

hospital staff can say they are not prepared which is futile statement on this case.

Moreover, they contend that if a country is adopting the liberal economy, the decision

about one's own business can be done by the business owner, not by any authority and this

argument is also false. It looks reasonable in the sense that if the country has the liberal

economy, the country has the means of production and (The Economic Job Market Rumours,

March 12, 2018, retrieved on 18 April 2020) but one needs to consider the subsidy and the

tax exemption that a hospital has been getting from the government. It is because the

government does not levy tax to those necessary service provider and once the government is

in need of such hospitals, they should join hand in hand with the government. But contrary to

this the hospitals are shutting their doors and refusing to cure the patients.

On the other side of the spectrum, the adherents of human rights also have a similar

view as they advocate that during the pandemic condition if a business or service providing

the house is forced to continue its services, it is one of the violations of human right which is

a wrong argument. It is a false argument in the sense that the essence of human right is to
protect the lives of those countrymen who are in the venerable condition. According to the

charter of International Human Right Association the most important hymn of Human Right

is to protect those who need care (The Tribunal, 2020 April 13, retrieved on 18 April 2020 ).

In the same way, in the pandemic condition, we need to consider and save ourselves first, and

only then after we have to consider others. For protecting lives of health professionals the

government has paid due attention in one hand and on the other all the health workers –

governmental or private – are being equally treated by the government. Moreover, the

government reiterated that if an employee of private hospital wants to join the government

one, same designation as well as perks are also provide which proves that how sensitive the

government is towards the facilities of health professionals during the time of pandemic

condition.

Penultimate argument is that as all the mechanisms of the government work hand on

hand to combat the pandemic condition, those hospitals who are reluctant to admit patient

should join the noble cause of the government which ultimately helps to raise their good

image in front of public. It is because there is a popular saying in English that – a friend in

need is a friend in deed. For those private hospitals it is the time to prove that how much they

are dedicated and inclined for curing the people of the county in one hand and on the other it

is the time to improve image of the hospital. As it has been already mentioned those people

who were regarded as bad boys are not regarded so because of their activeness in doing

benevolent causes, i.e. like providing food items and arranging other necessary things to

those people who are in dire need of such. In the same fashion if those private hospitals start

providing quality service to the patients, their image towards public will be good in one hand

and on the other they can ask compensation of the loss occurred because of lockdown to the

government which is very sound logic too.

 As people have been doing what the government is asking them to do, the same

should also be done by private hospitals which will very good for all – the government, the

public and the hospital itself. It is because people are staying inside the house following the

advice of the government and let's imagine a circumstance in which all people come out of

their house disrespecting the order of the government. Would government be able to control

them all? Obviously not. This means the general public of the nation is following the request

that has been made by the government, why cannot private hospitals do not do so? As

lockdown has been imposed to people because the spread of virus is done from personal

contact, the private hospitals should play a role in spreading such message to general public.

Therefore, whatever the request the government makes it its countrymen and the mechanisms

of the nation to combat the flu, other private bodies should do the same. If it is done, the

situation that will come will be a situation which we can term as – win –win situation.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, when the country is in dire need of medical attention, medical service

providers should play an instrumental role and during the pandemic, condition saving

people's life is very important (Patrick & Cadman, 2002). For that nationalization of all the

hospitals – private and community wise attempts should be done to ensure medical facilities

to all countrymen. If it is done, all the residents of the nation consider that even if they are

caught by an epidemic, the government is going to take care of them which make them

increase their willpower in one hand and on the other hand it helps the government to be fair

handed to all the residents of the country. As examples have been cited from Spain that all the

hospitals of the nation were nationalized and the result was found that all the people of Spain

were equally treated in one side and on the other, those people who desperately needed
healthcare facility during such adverse time got the medical attention irrespective of the type

of the hospital. Therefore, Nepal government should not delay in nationalizing all the private

hospitals and making some of them as the dedicated one for Coronavirus so that countrymen

could be made assured that they will not die without getting proper medical attention during

the pandemic situation and once people live we can exercise our unalienable rights then after.

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