KUALA LUMPUR: Private hospitals are not retail outlets, said the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) after a healthcare facility in the city centre was slapped with a RM200,000 compound for profiteering.
APHM president Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh said it was seeking a meeting with Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi after Hari Raya Aidilfitri to explain the structure of private hospitals in Malaysia in terms of revenue generation and sustainability.
"What we realised is ministries and the public do not understand how private hospitals are run and how we sustain expenditure and stay afloat.
"We also want to emphasise and explain to the ministry that private hospitals are not retail outlets. We are healthcare service providers," he told the New Sunday Times.
Dr Kuljit said the association came to a decision that the meeting was imperative as an engagement had not been held between private hospitals and the ministry to explain the difference between healthcare service providers and retail outlets.
He, however, declined to answer whether this meant it was not bound by the same rules under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act of 2011.
On Thursday, it was reported that a private hospital here was compounded for charging RM11.20 for face masks, which carry a ceiling price of RM1.50 each.
The issue was sparked when a man took to social media to complain that he was billed RM201.60 for 18 face masks that were used in the treatment of his daughter.
The hospital has to pay the compound by May 28 or risk being taken to court.
The court fine for an organisation that commits the offence under Section 18 of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act of 2011 related to selling price control items above the ceiling price and profiteering does not exceed RM500,000.
For the second or subsequent offence, the offender faces a fine of RM1 million if found guilty.
On whether the private hospital would settle the compound, Dr Kuljit said the association was not involved in the matter.
"We will leave it to the hospital to respond to the ministry directly.
"Our role is to only address the concept of private hospital business with them."