The health sector is threatened with a nationwide breakdown if an overall health policy is not rapidly implemented, the head of the Syndicate of Lebanese Hospitals (SLH), Suleiman Haroun, said during a press conference held at the SLH headquarters in Beirut on Tuesday.

“The problem is not with a particular institution but with the sector as a whole,” Haroun said, adding that “there is no clear and unified policy for all to follow and abide by.”
According to Haroun, the crux of the problem is that each social security and insurance entity is currently functioning according to its own private and unique tariffs, protocols and contracts. The total absence of coordination has taken the sector to the edge of an abyss.

Haroun decried the fact that, after agreeing to reimburse hospitals for services rendered over a two- or thre--month period, social security funds routinely renege on this and remit payment after a year or so. Taxes and other “surprises” also have to be taken into consideration.

“Even though most, if not all, agree that there is a problem, no one is willing to sit around the negotiating table,” Haroun said. “Despite our pleas to government officials, no concrete steps have been taken since we announced an emergency situation on July 22.”

According to Haroun, 90 percent of patients seek treatment at private hospitals with only 10 percent opting for the public ones. The cost of treatment is also 50 percent less at private hospitals. The daily cost is estimated at $450 per bed at government hospitals as compared with $200 per bed at private ones.

“The government must understand that it must ensure continuity or else private
hospitals will break under the ever increasing financial burdens,” Haroun said. “Can anyone just imagine what would happen should private hospitals stop functioning?”
Haroun said he considered the government’s hospital building policy, other than in rural areas where there is a dire need, as a futile squandering of public money. The $150 million bill for Beirut Hospital could have paid for two private hospitals of the same size and capacity, he said.

“Let us not forget the $5 million in hospital equipment still in their crates lying idly in Baabda hospital for the past years.”

“The only solution is for all concerned parties to … discuss practical solutions,” he said, adding that “no single party is in a position to force its will on others.”

The main points of his proposals are the immediate commencement of talks, the establishment of unified medical protocols and the enactment of a single overall health policy. Results can be achieved before year’s end if all parties cooperate in a spirit of goodwill, he said.

“In the meantime, the 1999 Health Ministry’s protocols will remain in effect as the creation of a legal vacuum is not permissible. At the same time we will not accept being confronted with any de facto situations,” he said.

Haroun also called on all private hospitals not to enter private pacts without the syndicate’s approval, in the name of solidarity and the overall good of the sector. The syndicate possesses no legal means to freeze or annul such agreements.

“We will stand firm by our commitment to treat any and all patients despite the numerous hurdles facing us,” Haroun said concluding the press conference.

“We only hope that a solution will be found to the existing situation before it is too late,” he said.

Source:  The Daily Star Online- www.dailystar.com.lb