The BMC is in the process of moving 222 admitted patients from its Bhagwati Municipal Hospital in Borivali to Kandivali’s Shatabdi Hospital. Now, Bhagwati Hospital will only run its outpatient department (OPD) and keep 11 emergency beds functional. “The move has come as the BMC has decided to renovate and upgrade the infrastructure of Bhagwati Hospital, and also add it to its existing capacity,” said additional municipal commissioner, Manisha Mhaiskar, BMC. “We have had two conflicting reports from consultants about the current state of infrastructure of Bhagwati Hospital. We then decided to discuss the issue with the people’s representative’s from the region and with abundant caution, have decided to shift patients from Bhagwati to Shatabdi,” said Ms Mhaiskar. As of now, the first phase of renovation has been commissioned, which is expected to be complete by June 2014, said Ms Mhaiskar. “A significant part of the work is nearing completion and remaining will be finished by June 2014. After that we will commission the second phase and we hope that the hospital will be fully renovated and upgraded by 2015,” she added. At the time the decision was taken, a total of 222 patients were admitted to the hospital and on a daily average, approximately 1,200 patients are treated on an OPD basis. The process of moving patients began on Friday and it was due to be completed on Sunday. The BMC employed its ambulances at no extra cost to the patients. “We have taken utmost care so that the patients are not inconvenienced,” said medical superintendent Dr S.S. Gawde. “We didn’t need any upgrade in terms of infrastructure or equipment. However, keeping in mind that the number of patients will increase, we are moving over 200 medical manpower to Shatabdi Hospital,” said Ms Mhaiskar.
