Amid the Corona pandemic and the severe economic situation, a new problem has emerged threatening Lebanon’s hospital sector.
Several private hospitals could face closure due to scarce funds and their failure to obtain their dues from the state, which are estimated at $1.3 billion.
“The week portends a catastrophe in the private hospital sector, as the state’s debt reached its peak, and the operation cost increased with the rise of the value of the dollar, threatening the closure of a number of hospitals in Keserwan, Metn and Beirut,” MP Ibrahim Kenaan, the head of the parliamentary finance and budget committee, said on Twitter.
On Monday, Health Minister Hamad Hassan touched on the issue, stressing that hospital contracts were ready to be settled. He noted that dues were paid until the month of June 2019, and that the remaining amounts would be disbursed soon.
Hamad added that hospitals facing financial difficulties could be given an advance for 2020.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Sleiman Haroun, the head of the Syndicate of Private Hospitals, said that a proposal would be presented to the government, for the payment of outstanding dues in monthly installments, in order to enable the hospitals to pay the salaries of its employees and the dues owed to the importers at this stage, until a clear and integrated plan is found.
Haroun emphasized that the problem was not new.
“We have always warned about this problem and its repercussions, until the crisis began to worsen. In addition to the failure of the state to pay its dues, we are facing the increase of the dollar value against the local currency and lately the outbreak of Corona,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“We buy all medical supplies from A to Z in US dollars, the exchange rate of which has doubled, but we provide invoices to the state at the official exchange rate set by the central bank,” he explained.
Haroun noted that with the spread of the corona virus, hospitals were forced to make a decision not to receive patients except in emergency cases, which led to a decrease in the occupancy rate to a quarter, while the expenses remained the same, leading to additional losses.
This situation threatens the closure of about 20 hospitals in the coming weeks, out of 126 private hospitals in Lebanon, he warned.
