A hospital in China sparked controversy after charging a patient for the use of a chair he sat on while receiving an intravenous infusion.
In late June, a person on mainland Chinese social media posted a bill from the state-funded Ningxia Children’s Hospital showing that they had been charged five yuan (70 U.S. cents) for a seat, Zonglan Video reported.
It is not clear how old the patient was or what he was being treated for, but the bill showed that the medicine contained antibiotics.
An official at the hospital in Yinchuan, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, said the fee was for two days’ use of a chair by the patient, who sat on it while receiving an infusion.
“The imposition of this fee is in line with the regulations of the Pricing Authority. We would definitely not impose fees arbitrarily,” the official said.
The Ningxia Healthcare Security Administration, which is responsible for setting and monitoring hospital prices, confirmed that there were no problems with the hospital collecting the fee.
“We have a policy that allows hospitals to charge five yuan for using a bed during infusion and half that price for using a chair,” an administration official said.
The controversial chairmanship fee has become the subject of heated debate on mainland social media, having been viewed five million times on Douyin alone.
“Hospitals are so commercial. These fees leave me speechless,” said one online observer.
“This is the first time I’ve heard of such charges in a hospital. Is there anything else they don’t charge for?” said another person.
“Will normal people be expected to bring their own stool to the doctor in the future?” asked a third.
This is not the first time that seat fees in hospitals have caused controversy.
In 2011, media in mainland China revealed that a major health center in eastern China’s Shandong province charged three yuan for the use of a chair.
After the incident sparked a public outcry, the local authority ordered all public hospitals to eliminate fees for the use of chairs, heating and garbage disposal.
However, in 2016, when the Chuncheng Evening News in southwestern Yunnan province reported that some large hospitals were charging bed and chair fees, the provincial health authority supported the institutions, saying they were complying with regulations.
