Neglected Beirut hospital leads Covid-19 battle - Asia Times
▻https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/neglected-beirut-hospital-leads-covid-19-battle
If you asked any Lebanese where they would turn to for urgent care before the Covid-19 outbreak, Beirut’s neglected public hospital would likely have been last on the list, if at all.
The governmental Rafik Hariri University Hospital for years has been known as the last resort of the poor and refugees, standing in sharp contrast to Lebanon’s dominant and bustling private healthcare sector.
Those with even limited means gravitate toward private hospitals, ranging from the religious and politically-affiliated to the gleaming top hospitals of Beirut, which attract medical tourists from elsewhere in the region.
The #Covid-19 pandemic has created an ironic twist.
This #public hospital has now emerged as the nation’s vanguard against the novel coronavirus, caring for both rich and poor, while the private sector has remained largely on the sidelines.