Max Healthcare challenges licence cancellation

The cancellation of Max Healthcare’s hospital licence in Shalimar Bagh, Delhi, has put the livelihood of over 1,800 staff at risk.

One of 14 hospitals operated by the behemoth, the Shalimar Bagh tertiary care entity employed about 1,185 medical staff, including doctors and nurses, besides 682 administrative and support staff, Max Healthcare Authorities told BusinessLine .

The company is “evaluating various possibilities to ensure our employees and their source of livelihood is not affected,” it said.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the company also said that they had “filed an appeal with the appropriate authority against cancellation of registration of Max Hospital Shalimar Bagh.”

Max Healthcare, which is a subsidiary of Max India, estimates that on a monthly basis the Shalimar Bagh hospital caters to 14,000 patients in the out-patient department, over 1,600 emergency patients and additional 3,000 are treated in in-patient wards.

The hospital said that following the cancellation of its licence, they were forced to “cancel, reschedule or transfer” several cases requiring serious procedures — such as 171 chemotherapies, 63 surgeries and 241 dialysis sessions.

According to the company’s annual report for 2016-17, the Shalimar Bagh unit, one of the tertiary care centres, has been running into losses, and the profitability of the unit has been in question. The annual report, however, also said that the losses of the unit have narrowed, and “going forward, we expect them to become profitable”.

Cancellation of the hospital’s licence at such a time, however, is likely to put strain on the unit.

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