Recently, a family member of a patient in Jiangxi filed a complaint. In April this year, he transferred his critically ill child from Jiangxi Children’s Hospital to a hospital in Shanghai, covering a distance of 800 kilometers. The ambulance service charged 28,000 yuan (RMB) directly to the driver’s personal account without providing an itemized bill or invoice. The family questioned the arbitrary charges.
Mr. Tang told Jímù News on June 17th that his child was admitted to the Cardiac Center of Jiangxi Children’s Hospital on April 4th for treatment, but the condition did not improve and became more severe. On the evening of the 8th, the attending physician recommended transferring the child to another hospital for treatment. Mr. Tang then requested to go to a hospital in Shanghai and asked the attending physician to arrange for an ambulance. An hour later, the ambulance arrived, and the driver informed them that the transportation fee was 28,000 yuan.
“At that time, when we heard about this fee, we were very shocked,” Mr. Tang said. When the child’s mother asked why it was so expensive and if it could be cheaper, both drivers remained silent. Due to the urgency of the child’s condition, he transferred 14,000 yuan to one of the drivers via WeChat first. Upon arriving in Shanghai at 5 am on April 9th, he paid the remaining 14,000 yuan to the other driver. Neither of the drivers provided Mr. Tang with an invoice or receipt throughout the journey.
During the transfer, Mr. Tang chatted with the driver and learned that the ambulance belonged to Nanchang Gan Yi Hospital Limited Company, not Jiangxi Children’s Hospital. “All the equipment on the ambulance during the transfer came from Jiangxi Children’s Hospital, and the attending physician and nurses accompanied us throughout, making me always think it was the hospital’s ambulance,” he said.
Mr. Tang believed that the fee was “a bit outrageous” and lacked transparency. Therefore, he filed a complaint with the Jiangxi Provincial Health Department.
On June 11th, Jiangxi Children’s Hospital stated that their ambulance could not cross provincial borders, and a 120 ambulance could not transport patients with equipment such as ventilators and ECMO. Therefore, the doctors contacted the ambulance from Nanchang Gan Yi Hospital to assist. The hospital emphasized that they have no affiliation with the private hospital.
Public records show that Nanchang Gan Yi Hospital Limited Company was established in 2017 and is a private comprehensive hospital. The hospital has been fined multiple times by the Qing Shanhu District Health Security Administration of Nanchang City.
The incident sparked heated discussions online.
Netizens expressed various opinions, with some saying, “The fee is reasonable after all, as it is a business entity and should be independently accounted for. However, ambulance fees should be standardized based on medical service pricing and must be included in the medical reimbursement system.” “We cannot always address existing problems piecemeal; it should be a comprehensive reform that tackles all issues at once.”
Following the attention brought by the incident, the Jiangxi Health Commission reported on June 18th that Nanchang Gan Yi Hospital had issues with unreasonable charges. Currently, they have been instructed to refund the excessive charges and temporarily suspend medical transfer services. The Commission will collaborate with relevant departments to further investigate the matter.