Central Hospital: Fall from grace

Infographic: TBS

Highlights 

• Central Hospital was founded in 1999 by Dr MR Khan and Dr Motior Rahman
• MR Khan died in 2016
• In 2017, a student of Dhaka University died allegedly due to wrong treatment
• In 2018, a 19-month-old child allegedly died of negligence and incorrect treatment 
• Conflict between two groups of Board of Directors 
• In 2021, Dr Mandy Karim, daughter of MR Khan, alleged that she was not allowed to enter the hospital though her father has 53,000 shares in hospital, she has 9,000 shares
• Currently, out of 22 members of the board, 4 are doctors, 18 are businessmen 

Central Hospital at the capital's Green Road, founded by renowned paediatrician Dr MR Khan and Dr Motior Rahman in 1999, had been one of the most popular and trusted health service providers in the country until 2016.

After Dr MR Khan died in 2016, patients and their relatives have brought various allegations of unprofessionalism and wrong treatment against the hospital.

Most recently, the hospital is again in discussion after the death of Mahbuba Rahman Ankhi and her newborn baby, which occurred allegedly due to wrong treatment and irregularities at the hospital.

Experts believe that this situation has arisen as the hospital has moved away from a service mindset and given more importance to business interests. They suggested that the health ministry should take the initiative to restore the previous standard of the hospital.

Several officials of the Department of Health said the board of directors of the hospital is now divided into two parts. The quality of service of the hospital has gone down due to the conflicts of the board of directors and the greed of making excessive profits.

Earlier on 20 January 2021, Dr Mandy Karim, daughter of MR Khan, alleged in a press conference that a vested quarter had taken control of Central Hospital.

She said she was not allowed to enter the hospital and was intimidated even though her father and she had 53,000 and 9,000 shares of the hospital respectively. 

At present, there are 22 members on the Board of Directors of the hospital. Of them, four are doctors and 18 are businessmen and other professionals. 

The hospital authorities have been capitalising on the popularity of many doctors working there. The hospital often encourages doctors to go live on Facebook to attract patients. Patients have complained that some doctors see more than one patient in one session without maintaining the minimum privacy of the patients.

An official of the health department, who did not wish to be named, told The Business Standard, "My child was born at Central Hospital. I was not happy with their service. Private hospitals do not provide the kind of services we want."

Bangladesh Doctors' Foundation's Governing Body member Dr Nirupom Das told TBS that private hospitals always have more of a business motive than service. When Dr MR Khan sir was alive, Central Hospital had a good reputation. Now the hospital aims at making huge profits only. The hospital has agents who get commissions for bringing patients to the hospital.

Many of the founding members have left the board as they could not accept the irregularities, he added.

Several allegations of malpractice and negligence have been levelled against Central Hospital over the past few years.

For example, in 2017, the director of Central Hospital was arrested on charges of wrongful treatment of a student of Dhaka University. In 2018, a 19-month-old baby died due to wrong treatment. The angry relatives of the patients assaulted hospital staff and vandalised the hospital.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Personal Physician Professor Dr ABM Abdullah, who has been treating patients at Central Hospital for a long time, told TBS this recent problem has arisen due to a communication gap between Dr Sangjukta Saha and the hospital authorities, which needs to be filled in as patients are being deprived of services.

Central Hospital cannot be judged by only two isolated incidents. Many good doctors provide services here and patients are also satisfied with the services, he added.

"Sometimes the health department has to monitor the service of hospitals rather than blaming the hospital after an incident takes place. Besides, doctors should also be aware and responsible," Dr ABM Abdullah said.

On 9 June, Mahbuba Rahman Ankhi had labour pains and was admitted to Central Hospital as a patient of Dr Sangjukta Saha at 12 midnight though the doctor was not present at the hospital. After several failed attempts of normal delivery, the doctors went for a caesarean delivery at around 3:30am.

The newborn died in the ICU. On 10 June, Ankhi was shifted from Central Hospital to LabAid Hospital and placed on life support where she died on 18 June.

Dr M A Quasem, vice chairman of Central Hospital, claimed that the hospital always provides quality service.

The hospital's lawyer has asked the hospital authorities not to talk about the incident until the investigation report is in hand, Dr Quasem told TBS.