Testimony: The hospital taximeter was ringing, I owed it to extend my father's life

Infectious Diseases Clinic / Photo: EPA

We gave the money for the renovation of the home for treatment. Our barracks are in vain, if there is no one to live in it, says Zvonko Gligorovski.

Zvonko Gligorovski from Skopje still feels the consequences of the disease a few months after passing Covid-19. Apart from not being able to fully regain his strength, he also has fresh memories of the Golgotha ​​his family went through during the November rush hour, when the search for a hospital bed was a "mission impossible". After Kovidot enters their home, Zvonko and three closest members of his family end up in hospital. Only his 19-year-old father fails to win the battle with Covid-88. After a two-week battle in private hospitals, he died just ten hours after being transferred to the Infectious Diseases Clinic in Skopje. All that remains for his son are the memories of the fight against the disease, the hospital bills for private treatment that were getting bigger every day, the battle to provide additional funds for the care of the sick, but also the last phone call from an unknown number at 7 am, which announces the news of the parent's death.

"It has long been clear to me that our health is rotten and that the money we pay for health insurance is wasted, but still, because I am not a steward, I tried to treat Covid like most others in public health. When the situation with my health became serious and our health remained unserious, I decided that the devil had taken the joke and that it was not worth saving the money intended for the renovation of the shed where my wife and I live. "Renovated barracks in vain, if there is no one to live in it."

This is how Gligorovski begins his testimony for DW, recalling the events of several months ago.

How did I end up in a private hospital?

"In November, when the hospitals were full of patients, I felt the first symptoms of Covid. After 7-8 days, when I thought everything was over, I spat blood. Then, during a telephone conversation, I felt like I was losing my breath. "It was a sufficient signal that I had to call the family doctor, who referred me for urgent examinations and an X-ray," says Gligorovski.

And here begins the Golgotha. Referral from one hospital to another, recordings, waiting, uncertainty, ending in hospitalization. "Bilateral pneumonia, eight-fold increase in d-dimers, halved platelets, a 5000-euro deposit and the bed is mine," said Gligorovski, recounting his experience of finishing treatment at a private hospital.

But evil, he says, does not just come. A week later, his wife and parents were hospitalized. His wife and mother with pneumonia and decreased saturation, while his 88-year-old father was completely exhausted from the disease.

"Just like when you have a nightmare and you see some celebrities around you and you can not understand whether it is a dream or a reality. That's exactly how I felt. "I was lying in the hospital and I saw that my wife and my mother and my father were here and I was saying to myself - what is this, it must be a nightmare", our interlocutor recalls.

Gligorovski lists the costs: 500 euros for a bed a day, 200 euros for eight pills a day, 300 euros for other medicines and services…

The hospital taximeter is knocking

After a while, three members of the Gligorovski family leave the hospital. Only his father remains in treatment. "500 euros for a bed a day, 200 euros for eight pills a day, 300 euros for other medicines and services, minus 5% discount, a signature that although they are still positive and aware of the risk, we are asking for a release, a sum of 22.000 euros. This does not include the expenses for my father. We have to pay for him when he is released from the hospital. I pay without a word. My heart breaks, but I have to leave it. "His condition is not for dismissal," said our interlocutor.

But the problems do not end there. As the amount paid financially exhausts the family, the following days are spent in a feverish demand for money. "I did everything I could to extend my father's stay in the hospital, and thus to extend his life. I called the hospital every day, but his condition began to worsen. I also called the accounting office to let them know how much my father owed me. The hospital taximeter rang close to 1000 euros a day. "Bad news bombarded me every day," Gligorovski said.

Pressed from all sides, the son owes 10 thousand euros to buy a few more days of care for his father. In the meantime, the hospital taximeter is knocking. He is forced to look for a bed to transfer to public health.

"With three hundred connections and urgencies, after a few days I find a place at the Infectious Diseases Clinic. But it takes minutes. Another bunch of patients are interested in that bed. The old man must be transferred as soon as possible so that no one else can catch the bed. I call the private hospital to arrange transportation. But first you have to pay. "The bill was 12 thousand euros, and I had only 10 thousand euros," said Gligorovski.

Because he is positive, he can not go to the hospital to raise the remaining money. He is forced to call a friend to bring him another 2.000 euros to the hospital.

"I was driving to Infective to meet my father. They brought him half-conscious, naked, black on his forearms and blue on his neck. I went in to report it. Ofkash was even moved from the stretcher. The next morning an unknown number called me at 7 o'clock.

"Are you Krste's son?"
- Yes.
- Receive compassion… "

After the issue of prices for treatment of Kovid-19 in private hospitals became topical these days, Gligorovski told DW about the experience that his family had in the fight against the "invisible enemy". He shared the story on social media, where he met with numerous reactions and support - many testify that they went through a similar thorny path, pointing to the example of families who lost their homes, sold apartments, houses, property, borrowed or took loans, for to pay for hospital expenses for themselves or their loved ones. Unfortunately, not everyone succeeded in the battle against the dangerous virus.

The state has recently decided to limit the prices charged by private hospitals for treating coronavirus patients to 5.000 euros. Such announcements come more than a year after the pandemic began. Meanwhile, citizens have made numerous appeals via social media to stop profiteering at the expense of the tragedies of families struggling with the dangerous virus. They all hope that in a time of pandemic, the hospital taximeter will not keep pounding.

Taken from Deutsche Welle

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