A Pakistan-American Doctor, Omar T. Atiq, shares a token of solicitude to 200 cancer patients. Offering “a little ease to their lives” by forgiving half a million dollars in medical debt as a Christmas gift, according to Gulf Today.
Dr. Omar Atiq, M.D, is a medicine and otolaryngology professor in the UAMS College of Medicine. He founded the Arkansas Cancer Institute in Pine Bluff in 1991 and made a bold decision to send a notice to his patients just days before the beginning of 2021.
On Dec.25, Arkansas Institute sent a Holiday greeting to his patient, which read,” The clinic was proud to have you as a patient. However, various health insurances pay most of the bills for the majority of patients.
Arkansas Cancer Clinic is closing its practice after over 29 years of dedicated service to the community. The clinic has decided to forgo all balances owed to the clinic by its patients. Happy Holidays.”
Working on a sweet story tonight.
Around 200 cancer patients in Pine Bluff got this holiday card a few days ago— Dr. Omar Atiq who founded the Arkansas Cancer Clinic is forgiving all outstanding debts owed by patients.
He says they wiped away bills totaling around $650,000. pic.twitter.com/IHnQ3IAv15
— Hunter Hoagland (@HunterHoagland) December 30, 2020
According to the facts, Dr. Omar said approximately $650,000 outstanding bills were pending as of Dec. The patient’s failure to repay their debt made him realize. The difficulties of bearing such a huge amount along with physical illness, ” He and his wife, Mehreen, thought of overlooking and forgiving all the debt. This wasn’t easy but, they could do it and proceeded with the same,” the doctor added.
In a recent interview with “Good Morning America,” Dr. Omar said that providing prerequisites during the economic crises, the coronavirus pandemic was something we could do to help the community.
Visit the link below to get detailed information on Dr. Omar’s interview