BMC plans to take over SevenHills Hospital

The hospital in Marol was the go-to centre for Covid-hit patients, since April 2020, after BMC took over the non-functional facility two-and-a-half years ago under the Disaster Management Act. At the time, Reliance Foundation Hospital (RFH) came forward to manage 107 beds (of a total of 1850)

Mumbai:

Mumbai, India - Feb. 4, 2016 : Seven Hills Hospital at Andheri in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, February 4, 2016. (Photo by Pratham Gokhale/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

At the ongoing winter session of the state assembly in Nagpur, on Tuesday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Bandra, Ashish Shelar, requested the government’s intervention to keep SevenHills Hospital (SHH) running. “The government should clarify in the house if the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will take over the hospital to render services to the city’s patients,” Shelar asked, while discussing BMC-run hospitals. In response, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the state government would decide about acquiring the hospital after a ruling by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on an ongoing litigation related to the hospital.

“We will then take a call on how services to the patients will be possible through BMC,” said Shinde.

The hospital in Marol was the go-to centre for Covid-hit patients, since April 2020, after BMC took over the non-functional facility two-and-a-half years ago under the Disaster Management Act. At the time, Reliance Foundation Hospital (RFH) came forward to manage 107 beds (of a total of 1850). However, with a drastic decline in the number of cases, BMC set up a six-member committee in October 2022, headed by Dr Sanjeev Kumar (additional municipal commissioner) to review the working of SHH.

The committee submitted a proposal to shut down the facility by December and employees were indirectly informed about its imminent closure. The disheartened approached the powers that be, including Ashish Shelar, following which BMC was made to pause its decision.

The hospital has a staff of 1000, of which 183 are doctors.

Looking back

In 2005, the civic body entered into a contract with Seven Hills Healthcare Pvt Ltd, where the latter was given permission to construct a 1,496-bed hospital in Marol, in which 20% of the beds would be reserved for the economically-disadvantaged. By 2017, the hospital found itself in financial difficulties. At the time, BMC also alleged that the hospital was not abiding by the terms of the lease contract and had reneged on its annual rent of ₹10 lakh. In 2018, it issued a termination, whereupon the private body moved court.

After a decline in Covid-19 cases, SHH took on non-Covid and post-Covid cases, including mucormycosis, at affordable rates. Since October 2021, SHH has admitted 3071 non-Covid patients and has conducted 856 major surgeries, including heart bypass, urology and orthopaedic invasions such as knee and hip replacement, ENT, among others. It also has taken up 631 cath lab cases.

“The treatment is provided at affordable rates. For example, a bypass is done at ₹2 lakh, which would cost around ₹5 lakh in a private hospital. The knee replacement costs around ₹1.4 lakh as opposed to nearly ₹4 lakh in private hospitals. BMC should continue with SHH as it will help middle-class patients get affordable treatment,” said a doctor from SHH.

SHH-RFH tug-of-war

The hospital, which presently has 60 odd patients, out of which 10 are affected by Covid-19, wrote to RFH asking to hand over the 107 beds they have been managing since the pandemic. In the absence of an MoU with RFH, BMC is finding it hard to evict them from the premises. The civic body has sent two notices to RFH, the last in October. A month later, Reliance officials said they wished to discuss it with top BMC officers and revert with adequate notice.

Speaking to HT, Dr Tarang Gianchandani, CEO, RFH, said, “Since the cases have dropped to about nil, we will wrap up the infrastructure created at the facility and vacate the premises in some time.”

The buy-out intent

In mid-2018, RFH was among 15 entities that submitted their expression of interest documents to buy the hospital. When queried on the issue for future, Dr Gianchandani said, “We shall keep you updated.”

Meanwhile, BMC is out to hire a law firm to sort out the legal wrangle. Its law officer, Sunil Sonawane, put out an advertisement last week to this effect. “The case is very complicated and is being fought under various provisions of insolvency and bankruptcy code. It is being heard in NCLT, Hyderabad. We want SevenHills,” said Sonawane.