After seven years, Juhu’s Cooper Hospital gets a new college building

Mumbai: Seven years after the first batch of MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) students were admitted to the HBT Medical College attached to the RN Cooper Hospital in Juhu, a swanky new medical college building was inaugurated on Monday

Mumbai: Seven years after the first batch of MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) students were admitted to the HBT Medical College attached to the RN Cooper Hospital in Juhu, a swanky new medical college building was inaugurated on Monday. The new building was inaugurated by guardian minister Aaditya Thackeray in presence of industries minister Subhash Desai, transport minister Anil Parab, and mayor Kishori Pednekar among others.

After seven years, Juhu’s Cooper Hospital gets a new college building

The five-storey, centrally air-conditioned building boasts four soundproof lecture halls, smart teaching boards, a digital library, and a courtyard among other things.

Since 2015, the medical college which has 200 MBBS seats, has been functioning from the Old Casualty building within the premises. All the academic departments will be shifted to the new building over the next three months.

“Opening of this new building is an important landmark for Mumbai,” said Thackeray. “The civic body in Mumbai is the only urban local body to have five medical colleges under it. It’s admirable that the construction of the building was carried out at the same time when the health department was also fighting Covid-19,” he added.

Built at a cost of nearly ₹300 crore, the new building also has underground parking for 120 cars. “The building has been designed keeping natural light, wide corridor spacing, and other aesthetics in mind,” informed the additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani.

The medical students cheered when the dignitaries announced that the new building will be fully WiFi-enabled 24/7. “Our library space and classrooms were very small. We are all excited to start classes in the new building,” said a second-year MBBS student.

The construction work for the building began in 2018 and was completed in a span of 40 months. “We have also made provision for a ‘skills laboratory’ where students will learn procedures on mannequins,” said Dr Shailesh Mohite, dean of the RN Cooper Hospital. “We have classrooms where teachers can use the internet to relay photographs on smart boards to teach. The new building will enhance the learning process at every step,” he said.

The RN Cooper Hospital currently has 750 beds. Once the departments are moved out from the Old Casualty building, the civic authorities plan to add at least 380 more beds.