Until tomorrow, they can exercise their rights under the scheme at Chulalongkorn Hospital or any other state hospital.

From Monday (May 16), they will be assigned permanently to one of the following facilities: Police General Hospital, Lerdsin Hospital or Rajavithi Hospital.

“They can find out which hospital they are assigned to via http://www.sso.go.th or the hotline 1506,” Social Security Office secretary general Kowit Sachavisad said yesterday.

The SSO operates the social security scheme, which offers medical benefits to its members.

Of the 10 million or so members, 40,027 had received services from Deja Hospital – an SSO partner.

The Department of Health Service Support this week ordered the shutdown of Deja Hospital in Bangkok’s Phya Thai district for 60 days on grounds of substandard service.

Kowit said the hospital had been an SSO partner since 1994 and the contract with the hospital was renewed this year because the SSO had never received a complaint about its services.

“The hospital also met the [membership] criteria. It had 100 beds and medical specialists in no fewer than 12 fields. Its permanent doctors also covered at least four fields,” he said.

Kowit believes the SSO has never checked the financial status of a partner hospital.

He said the SSO paid Deja Hospital more than Bt8 million for services it provided for the social security scheme in January and February.

“For the services it provided from March till its closure this month, we will have to pay it Bt14 million. But we can’t pay it yet because the hospital’s outstanding debts to Chulalongkorn Hospital and the SSO now total Bt32 million,” he said.

Kowit vowed to ensure the SSO would consider potential hospital partners’ financial status before signing contracts with them in the future.

The closure of Deja Hospital has affected not just its patients but also its staff.

Staff members said they had not received salaries since December.

Labour Protection and Welfare Department chief Ananchai Uthaipattanachep said his agency would issue an order requiring Deja to pay its staff within 30 days.

“If the hospital doesn’t respond to the order, we will bring the case to the court,” he said.

Ananchai said although the affected staff could receive assistance from the Employee Welfare Fund, the amount of financial help would not be more than Bt18,000 each.

“I’ve heard that there have been efforts to attract new investors to keep Deja Hospital’s operations running. If the efforts are successful, the staff should be fully paid,” he said.

Labour Ministry deputy permanent secretary Dr Suradej Waleeittikul said the Employment Department had been urgently finding new jobs for the hospital’s staff.

“The Employment Department says there are more than 300 jobs available for medical workers in Bangkok and nearby areas,” he said.

Meanwhile, Worasuda Sukharom – the youngest daughter of the hospital founder – yesterday announced that although the hospital continued to operate under her father’s name – Deja – her family had not been involved in management or hospital operations for about 10 years. “We leased the facilities and rights to manage the hospital to Sri Ayudh Co Ltd.”

According to Worasuda, Sri Ayudh now owes Sukharom Co Ltd – which belongs to her family – more than Bt20 million in rent. “We will assign our lawyer to take action.”

Worasuda said Sukharom Co had been in the process of negotiating with investors interested in the hospital’s facilities. Many hospital operators had showed interest. “If they want, we may sell our property, but at no less than Bt500 million,” she said.

Worasuda said her family would not return to operate the hospital.