Cork hospital fails to agree cover with VHI
Notices will be placed in the national media tomorrow to say the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork, the State's largest private hospital, has refused to participate fully in the VHI, reports Colman Cassidy. Patients will be expected to settle their accounts directly with the hospital.
"Despite five months of negotiations, it has not been possible to reach agreement with the Bon Secours Health System Ltd, in relation to the Bon Secours Hospital, Cork," the VHI's medical director, Dr Bernadette Carr, said yesterday. "VHI Healthcare regrets any inconvenience to its members in the Cork region. However, the Bon Secours Hospital, Cork, is seeking an increase that is three times more than the increases we have agreed with the four other Bon Secours hospitals and all the other private hospitals."
Bon Secours, in a statement, said the hospital had incurred losses in recent years "due to the inadequate reimbursement rates" paid by the VHI. "VHI, in rejecting the minimum increase sought by Bon Secours Hospital, Cork to maintain `full cover' for their members, have indicated that, as a consequence of being `out of agreement' they intend to inflict a punitive further reduction of 20 per cent in reimbursement rates for their members attending this hospital."