THE Ministry of Health on Monday ordered the immediate closure of the capital’s Victoria International Hospital for allegedly holding a patient and her family against their will for failing to pay a $2,000 medical bill.

“The ministry of health has decided to close Victoria International Hospital . . . for not following the ministry’s regulations,” said a written order on Monday, which took effect immediately and was signed by Minister of Health Mam Bun Heng.

The order said the hospital in Tuol Kork district’s Boeung Kak II commune is owned and managed by a Seang Sokun.

The move came after news went viral on social media that the hospital had locked a girl and her family in after they had failed to pay for an operation on her uterus on Sunday night.

A family member who asked to remain anonymous told reporters that the girl’s mother brought her to the hospital after hearing news of a free medical check-up and treatment. After the check-up, she said, a Chinese doctor told them the girl had been diagnosed with a uterus problem and had to undergo an urgent operation.

“The doctor told them through a translator that the girl’s condition was serious and warranted an immediate operation or [she] would die."

The family asked beforehand about the cost of the operation but the hospital refused to reveal it.

“Staff said they would discuss costs after the procedure, with the doctor calling for an immediate operation, although the family insisted that they didn’t have any money,” the relative said.

After the operation, she said, the hospital handed them an invoice for $2,000. When the family paid a $600 deposit and asked to go home for the remaining $1,400, the staff allegedly locked the doors, refusing to let them leave until the remainder of the hospital fees were paid.

“The wound left from the operation became swollen because the doctor didn’t prescribe any medication, saying they needed to settle the bill before he would do so."

“They kept begging the doctor [for medicine] but to no avail,” the relative said, adding that the news broke online when the girl’s mother called her for help.

A member of staff at the hospital, reached for comment by The Post on Monday, denied allegations that staff had purposely locked the doors, saying the hospital normally locked the main doors at 7pm, leaving only a few smaller doors open.

“She was required to pay $2,000 because she was found to have four or five kinds of disease. She received treatment, which included an operation on her uterus,” he said.

Boeung Kak II commune police chief Khat Khon Tith, who visited the hospital to prevent potential unrest, said the facility simply locked the doors as was routine and did not intend to confine the victims to the hospital as has been claimed.

“I have received information from the doctor that the two parties had agreed on the $2,000 cost of the operation. The patient was supposed to leave three days after her operation, but her family couldn’t afford to pay the bill,” he said.

Khon Tith said that after the news broke and went viral on social media, the hospital agreed to accept the $600 fee the patients had already paid, adding that the hospital had not filed a complaint with the police.

“The case is closed, but I’m not sure if the hospital still requires the patient to pay the rest of the cost later because we haven’t seen any complaint,” he said.

Khon Tith said eight people including the hospital’s general-director, Sokun, and medical staff were questioned but not detained by police.

Minister of Health Mam Bun Heng declined to comment to The Post on Monday, saying the ministry would release a statement in due course once they had assessed the situation.