Water leak forces Parel hospital to cancel surgeries
The entire operation theatre block at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Hospital in Parel has been shut since Friday last due to water leakage caused by the ongoing expansion work, hospital employees said. Priya Prabhakaran reports.
The entire operation theatre block at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Hospital in Parel has been shut since Friday last due to water leakage caused by the ongoing expansion work, hospital employees said.
As a result, patients, including pregnant women admitted to the hospital and requiring emergency services, have been shifted to JJ Hospital at Byculla. Patients and those visiting the hospital for outpatient services and requiring surgeries have been asked to return after 15 days when the four operation theatres are functional.
An ophthalmologist, who requested anonymity, said from Friday almost 30 to 40 patients have been refused admission and surgery. “A patient may lose his cornea if the operation theatre is even minutely contaminated,” said the doctor. He said culture swabs of the OT’s ceiling and floor have been sent to the hospital’s pathology department to determine possible contamination. But, patients continue to pour into the hospital as it caters to people insured under the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).
Sudhakar Surve’s son Sanket, 21, an employee of the Pest Control of India, Malad, requires surgery after being injured in a bus accident. Sanket was shifted to MGM Hospital from the ESIC hospital in Kandivli for better treatment . “But, doctors have asked us to come back after 15 days as operation theatres are closed. We live in Nalasopara and can’t take him home with a fractured leg,” Surve said.
Employees said the Rs 150 crore project is scheduled to be completed by September 2011. “But, the project is not even half complete. It may not be finished before 2013. The delay poses a risk to the hospital’s current facilities,” said Deepak Ghole, an X-ray technician.
“We will look into the inconvenience caused to patients. We have tie-ups with the best private hospitals in the city and will shift patients if needed,” said Dr GN Bankapur, senior state medical commissioner of ESIC.