Govt. yet to pay Kids First Fund India bill

Months after the government said it had an arrangement to pay to a Chennai Hospital the bill for 12 Guyanese heart patients, it has so far failed to do so.

“The headlines that they (government officials) are putting in the newspapers are absolutely wrong,” said former First Lady Varshnie Singh yesterday.

In early June, the Frontier Lifeline Hospital in Chennai prevented the 12 patients from leaving the Hospital without settling the bill. The government had said that it would pay the Bill and thus allowed the release of the patients.

However, Singh said yesterday the incident came about because of a misunderstanding with new hospital staff. She said this was acknowledged by the Hospital’s head, Dr K M Cherian.

“The doctor (KM Cherian) had said it was a misunderstanding with his new staff. He was overseas. We were detained by a day till he got back,” said Singh.

When the patients were not allowed to leave, the government had said it would pay the bill, but Singh said as far as she knew this was not done.

Singh took the patients to India under her charity Kids First Fund. She said the arrangement with the Frontier Lifeline Hospital was for them always to pay the bill afterward. She said while the hospital would provide an estimated bill to help the organisation with fundraising, the final bill is provided after surgeries.

In this case, Singh said the outstanding bill is US$87, 452. She said she signed an agreement with the hospital to pay within six months.

Singh also said that contrary to the government saying it would pay the bill, she was still raising money to pay the hospital.

As of yesterday, she said Kids First Fund needed to raise US$36, 000 more to clear the bill and would do so if the government still yet fails to do so.

Singh is just back from New York where a number of Guyanese artistes volunteered to perform at a concert to raise funds to meet the bill. Fundraising activities are also held in Canada and the United Kingdom.

Since the charity started, Singh has taken 55 children and 22 adults to India for heart surgeries.