Fewer foreign patients and unrealised costs of buying expensive medical equipment have left private hospitals foundering, putting a cloud over the government’s plans to expand their numbers in the fight against the new coronavirus.
Questions loom over India’s private healthcare system as increasing previous investments along with disappearing foreign patients on account of travel curbs mean that several leading private hospitals have sustained revenue losses of up to 90% since March. “With the current covid-19 crisis, the private healthcare sector is faced with a twin predicament—while the sector is investing additional manpower, equipment, consumables and other resources to ensure 100% preparedness for safety in the hospital(s)...