Govandi man dies after being denied treatment in Shatabdi

Nearly 10 days after the death of a Pune woman, 45-year-old’s case exposes state’s crumbling public health infra; BMC orders inquiry

MUMBAI: A 45-year-old Govandi resident, died on Monday evening after a civic-run hospital failed to treat him for acute urinary retention, bringing to the fore the apathy of the state’s healthcare system for the second time in around 10 days. On March 28, a 26-year-old pregnant woman in Pune, who was in a critical state, was allegedly denied admission in the emergency section of the reputed Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital as the family was unable to pay a deposit of ₹10 lakh the hospital had demanded. She died on March 31 after delivering twins at Manipal hospital, Pune, from post-pregnancy complications.

Govandi man dies after being denied treatment in Shatabdi

When Avinash Shirgaonkar, an employee at a private firm, began experiencing acute urinary retention early Monday morning, his family rushed him to Shatabdi Hospital—the only key public healthcare facility in the vicinity—hoping for immediate relief. At the hospital, they were met with a shuttered ICU and no doctors on duty.

His family members said, even a basic catheterization, which could have offered temporary relief before he could be transferred to the ICU, was allegedly denied. “We begged them to just insert a catheter so he could get some relief, but they turned us away saying there were no doctors,” said Rajendra Nagrale, a close friend of the family who had accompanied Avinash.

He was then rushed to Rajawadi Hospital, in Ghatkopar East, where doctors performed an ECG on him, gave him medicines but sent him back home without thorough diagnosis or further intervention, said family members. By the evening, when his condition had significantly deteriorated, the family rushed him to Lokmanya Tilak Hospital in Sion. He died within hours of being admitted.

“Had he received timely treatment at Shatabdi, he might still be with us,” said Avinash’s cousin, Arun Shirgaonkar. “What is the value of our lives if even basic care is out of reach?” He added, at Shatabdi, as there was no ambulance available, they had to take the patient to the next hospital in a taxi.

Nearly eight to 10 hours had passed between the first symptoms and the initiation of actual treatment—well past the critical “golden hour” considered vital in medical emergencies.

Shirgaonkar’s death also calls attention to the fragile health infrastructure in Govandi, considered one of Mumbai’s most underserved areas with the city’s lowest Human Development Index. It renders lakhs of residents in the M-East ward, which accounts for nearly 6.5% of Mumbai’s population, vulnerable in the face of a poor public health system. Experts have long flagged the absence of specialists, flawed infrastructure and staff shortage in the area.

Last week, the civic body’s move to partially privatise Bhagwati Hospital in Borivali, under the public-private partnership model, was slammed by civic-run hospital employees, who underscored that the government was putting its energies in privatisation in the face of 40% vacancies at Class IV level staff at civic-run hospitals, which is severely impacting healthcare.

Dr Chandrakant Pawar, chief medical superintendent of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) peripheral hospitals, confirmed that the ICU at Shatabdi was indeed shut at the time the Shirgaonkars sought treatment for Avinash. A senior civic official, requesting anonymity, said, “Doctors don’t want to work here. The ICU was previously managed by students under the Diplomate of National Board (DNB) (a three-year specialisation course). After the course ended, the unit became non-functional. We now refer critical patients to Lokmanya Tilak and Rajawadi hospitals.”

Pawar added, the BMC will conduct an inquiry into the matter.