Sixty-one patients at Shenzhen’s public hospitals are refusing to leave after receiving treatment. Many of the patients, who are staying in eight of the city’s 11 public hospitals, are homeless, Shenzhen Daily reported yesterday.

The patients have been there for a combined total of more than 17,000 days and collectively owe more than 8 million yuan in medical fees, the city’s public hospital management center announced this week.

The paper has more:

Xu Yong, director of operations at the city’s hospital management center, said many of the patients are vagrants who had been sent to a hospital by police or civil affairs employees after suddenly falling ill. Hospital officials have been unable to contact family members of many of the recovered patients who are refusing to leave.

The over-staying patients also include people who have large medical bills or still need recuperative treatment, even though the treatment doesn’t require hospitalization. Patients involved in medical disputes also are among the over-stayers.

Xu said hospitals have no right to force patients to leave, unless police intervene.

None of the patients have been forced out of a local hospital, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported yesterday.

“Hospitals have become shelters for many people who think they are in a disadvantaged position,” Xu said. “If there was a government-funded rehabilitation center that could provide free services to these people, the current situation might change. The government could also establish a better aid system for these people.”

A 13-year-old girl identified only as Xiaomin was sent to Shenzhen Children’s Hospital at the end of 2010 because of heart failure. Her condition eventually stabilized, but she has remained in the hospital, where administrators have suggested that she leave 14 times since August 2012.

The girl’s father has rejected each request, citing financial difficulties.

The management centre is trying to figure out a way of preventing patients from abusing the system.

One patient has been staying in the neurology department at Shenzhen No. 2 People’s Hospital for seven years, according to the centre.

It became obvious there was a problem after a Nov. 2 incident in which the father of a female patient allegedly used a kitchen knife to threaten doctors at Peking University Shenzhen Hospital.