PANCHKULA, Oct 7 — Cardiac treatment for Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries at the Civil Hospital’s heart centre in Sector 6 has remained suspended for nearly three months due to unpaid dues amounting to ₹80 lakh, creating a major healthcare setback in the district. The facility, run under a public-private partnership (PPP) with the Meditrina Group of Hospitals, halted services around World Heart Day on September 29 and has yet to resume operations for Ayushman cardholders.
The Panchkula centre’s financial troubles are part of a wider crisis across four Meditrina-operated heart centres in Haryana—Panchkula, Ambala, Gurugram, and Faridabad—where unpaid bills have ballooned to ₹7.5 crore. The situation has forced Ayushman patients to seek treatment at already overburdened tertiary hospitals like PGI Chandigarh and GMCH-32.
An employee of the Meditrina Group said the centre had not received any assurance on payment of pending amounts. “Only emergency Ayushman cases are being attended to on humanitarian grounds,” the employee noted.
Despite the suspension, Meditrina continues to provide free treatment for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, Scheduled Caste (SC) patients, and Haryana government employees and pensioners. Civil Hospital’s principal medical officer (PMO) Dr. R.S. Chauhan said that efforts were underway to clear the backlog. “A considerable amount has been released. We are in constant touch with Ayushman Bharat officials for the remaining dues. Once the payments are settled, we will resume treatment for Ayushman patients so that they don’t suffer,” he mentioned.
The issue has also drawn the attention of the Haryana Human Rights Commission (HHRC). Sector 15 resident S.K. Nayar earlier lodged a complaint about inadequate healthcare facilities and halted treatment at the civil hospital. In July, the commission sought a report from the state’s additional chief secretary (health) and the director general of health services (DGHS) after a similar complaint from another local resident, Aman Dutt.
By July, pending payments at the Panchkula heart centre alone had reached ₹1.29 crore, adding to a total outstanding of ₹9 crore across all four districts. Officials noted that the issue dates back to 2018, with ₹44 lakh pending for seven years and an additional ₹85 lakh piling up in the current year.
A senior Meditrina official had earlier stated that the total outstanding, including interest and free OPD services for BPL, SC, and government beneficiaries, had touched nearly ₹31 crore. Before the suspension, the Panchkula centre treated around 20–25 Ayushman patients every month.
Dr. Manju Pratap, CEO and director of the Meditrina Group, has repeatedly urged state health authorities to revise the Ayushman Bharat reimbursement rates in line with updated Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) tariffs. “Our treatment costs are 69% lower than CGHS rates. A stent procedure that costs about ₹86,000 elsewhere is provided here at ₹55,000–60,000,” she said in one of her communications to the DGHS.
With no immediate clarity on the release of funds, hundreds of Ayushman beneficiaries remain in limbo, waiting for cardiac care services to resume in Panchkula’s only dedicated government heart facility.
