Gurgaon: Patients and attendants at a heart centre were sitting among packed equipment, while dismantled beds occupied space near the OPD complex.Barely five months after its relaunch, the heart centre at Badshah Khan Civil Hospital in Faridabad has been shut.A visit to the hospital on Monday showed the Meditrina centre locked, with notices pasted on its doors stating “Centre Closed” and that all heart centre services had been stopped. A prominent sign above the entrance, however, continues to advertise a “24×7 Cardiac Emergency” facility.At the centre, which was reopened following a prolonged closure under the public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement in March, equipment and furniture were being dismantled and packed inside the hospital premises. The shutdown has left a striking scene inside the hospital: Hospital beds have been stacked along the passage, while chairs, tables and other equipment have been wrapped in plastic and kept in large piles.The centre was relaunched on March 20, with Haryana minister Vipul Goyal and Faridabad mayor Praveen Joshi attending the inauguration. The administration had announced that cardiac services had resumed at the Civil Hospital.Amid queries over circumstances surrounding the latest closure, including the status of the PPP arrangement and the reason for the apparent movement of equipment, lawyer and social activist Sanjay Gupta was also at the centre and informed chief medical officer Jayant Ahuja about the developments on Sunday.“How can the company pack and leave suddenly? They have a contract and they need to inform the govt. Also, these equipment do not belong to them it comes under PPP,” said Gupta.Police were called after the matter was reported and the activity was stopped immediately, according to sources.Ahuja told TOI that the private operator was not planning to continue operating its centres in Haryana. He said, “The doctor at the Faridabad centre had left a few days earlier and the company had been given time to recruit another doctor.”The CMO also said, “The operator had claimed that around Rs 8.5 crore was pending from the govt. However, officials had asked the company to submit bills supporting the claim.”“They don’t have any bill or have not produced any bill. They have simply claimed that Rs 8.5 crore is pending,” Ahuja said, adding that not even a single bill was pending with govt.Ahuja also said, “The operator had started moving the equipment and no formal inventory or handover process had been initiated.”Meditrina Hospitals Group CEO Dr Manju Prathap told TOI, “The MOU was signed in 2017. As per the remedies available to us, we have terminated the contract due to non-payment of over dues. In spite of promises by CMO and DGHS, the outstanding dues of Rs 8 cr to us are not released and several written communications were made. We have stopped service with due intimation to CMO and PMO. Also, information was given to CMO/PMO about removal of equipment as per contract. It is illegal to hold the equipment as we have given required notice as per agreement and huge amounts are outstanding payable by Civil Hospital. There were unnecessary deductions in spite of a 66% discount on CGHS rate. Ayushman cases are also not paid which are pending for a long time. Even after the intervention by minister Vipulji there is no positive action by DGHS or CMO. CGHS rate revision is pending for the last 2.5 years, but no positive decision has been taken. We understood even though political leaders wanted better healthcare facilities for the poor, the officials in the health department are not proactive. We are providing services at other centres without any interruption. Patients and civil hospital authorities are satisfied. We face such problems only in Faridabad.”On Monday, the impact of the disruption remained visible across the hospital premises. In one area, several hospital beds had been taken apart and stacked together. In another, large pieces of furniture and equipment were wrapped in plastic and kept near the waiting areas.Patients and attendants were continuing to use the hospital premises while the packed equipment occupied parts of the public areas.The closure also raises questions over continuity of cardiac services for patients who had returned to the centre. In particular, it remains to be clarified whether the PPP arrangement is still operational, whether the centre has been suspended temporarily or whether the operator has decided to withdraw from the facility.The heart centre operator has been asked by TOI to clarify why the facility has been shut again, whether the PPP arrangement remains valid, why equipment was being removed from the centre and what arrangements have been made for patients currently dependent on its cardiac services. No response has been received so far.In June 2025, TOI had reported that an MBBS doctor, Pankaj Mohan Sharma, posed as a cardiologist at the centre and performed more than 50 cardiac procedures over eight months.Sharma used the registration number of another cardiologist, Pankaj Mohan, and prescriptions bearing his name reportedly described him as a cardiologist with a DNB in cardiology.The issue came to light after the genuine doctor complained about the alleged misuse of his credentials, following which Sharma was removed from the centre.Police had also sought records from the health department on how Sharma was recruited and allowed to work at the govt hospital for months.
