King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital officials said that they had been appealing a request to BMC’s Hospital Infrastructure Cell (HIC) to speed up urgently required maintenance repairs in six wards for months before CM Eknath Shinde’s unexpected arrival on Monday.
Over the last six months, the hospital has called the department numerous times, but the calls didn’t deliver sufficient results. Initially, it was intended to complete the work on every single one of these wards individually.
A BMC health department representative gave the following explanation for the delay: “After evaluating the situation, it was found that there were additional tasks that needed to be done.” “The HIC is in charge of the repairs, and the hospital administration has nothing to do with them”. According to a hospital source, “the specifics were not settled on their end.”
According to BMC authorities, the work was already planned to start the following week. A representative remarked, “We gave it a priority when the CM, sir, brought it up”.
The affected wards (4, 4A, 6, 7, 11, as well as 12) will now go through modifications that include repair work, electrical system fixes, the installation of new furnishings, and the installation of medical oxygen pipes. Minor construction began on Tuesday.
An audit report was presented, yet nothing was done
A 2019 structural audit had shown that the same six wards needed repairs, which led to revealing how patients, doctors, and medical professionals at KEM had been putting their lives in danger for the previous three years.
Despite the audit report being presented in 2021, nothing was done with it until February 2023. Six rooms were used, with two being medical wards, one for patients in need of emergency care, and three each for general surgical procedures (male), general male, and general female wards. They didn’t reopen after the report for a long period of time.
CM Shinde’s unexpected arrival hurried up the work
Shinde came into KEM Hospital unexpectedly while attending a function in a closer-to-five-star hotel in Parel, triggering an upswing of activities late on Monday. His visit comes shortly after a political controversy was sparked by the 18 fatalities that occurred at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Thane in the space of 18 hours.
“The chief minister showed his appreciation after observing several systems and departments on his visit on Monday”, according to the doctor. He spoke with a number of patients during his time there and addressed the concerns they had.
He continued by saying that the chief minister had been pleased with the standard of patient care and had noticed how clean the wards were. In addition, the chief minister decided to spend time with patients without KEM employees and other officials.
Each of these wards can accommodate between 60 and 70 patients. After repair, the accessibility of these six wards will improve the facility’s ability to treat 420 patients. As a result, patients will have access to higher-quality services as the hospital’s infrastructure is expanded, according to Dr Shinde. A total of 450 patients can be accommodated in the wards. The hospital had been treating patients from KEM in the four medical rooms at Sewri’s TB hospital since they closed.
According to the information, the restored wards will be usable within a year. The six wards, which were primarily from the medicine department, had to be abandoned about three months ago because of their terrible condition.
Along with relocations for new furnishings and medical oxygen. He continued, “Minor construction work has begun and will be completed swiftly without bothering patients”.
When contacted, Dr Sangeeta Ravat, dean of KEM Hospital, stated that “the initial estimation was two years due to the wards being taken up for restoration one at a time.” However, with continuous work, it should be finished in a year”.