KEM Hospital lift row has BMC under fire

At the BMC’s standing committee meeting on Thursday, corporators demanded accountability from the civic administration, quizzing them on infrastructure in civic-run hospitals

MUMBAI: The viral video of an elderly patient at KEM Hospital seated backwards on a flight of stairs, trying to hoist himself up while wearing a plaster cast on one leg, has the civic administration under intense fire. The 78-year-old patient had undergone ankle surgery but with no functioning lift in the hospital’s orthopedic building, he was forced to push himself up the stairs.

The lift in the stand-alone orthopedic building is in the process of being replaced, the hospital administration has said

The lift in the stand-alone building had given way and is in the process of being replaced, the hospital administration has said.

At the BMC’s standing committee meeting on Thursday, corporators demanded accountability from the civic administration, quizzing them on infrastructure in civic-run hospitals. Raising a point of order, Byculla corporator Yamini Jadhav asked why patients, particularly senior citizens and those with serious injuries, were being forced to use staircases. “Despite being the richest municipal corporation and spending crores of rupees, services are miserable. Citizens should not have to bear the brunt of such administrative failures,” she said.

Congress group leader Ashraf Azmi said the problem extended beyond non-functional lifts, alleging that the overall condition of civic hospitals had deteriorated. Dilapidated buildings, inadequate infrastructure and malfunctioning lifts had made things increasingly difficult for patients, he said.

Kurla corporator Dr Saeeda Khan said the responsibility for maintaining lifts and other infrastructure should not rest with doctors. Rather it should be handled by dedicated non-medical administrative personnel.

The civic administration said KEM Hospital has 11 lifts, of which five were replaced in 2022. The remaining six are being replaced this year as they have become old. It also said the five operational lifts were under strain because they were being used beyond their capacity and that maintenance contractors were alerted and the lifts repaired as soon as a lift stopped functioning.

However, health committee chairperson Harish Bhandirge termed the response unsatisfactory and said he would personally visit the hospital on Friday to assess the situation.

Deputy mayor Sanjay Ghadi visited the hospital on Thursday and said, “The orthopaedic department has only one lift, which is not working and is currently being replaced. I said that instead of one, two lifts be provided so that patients are not stranded if one stops functioning.”

Ghadi also alleged that the video of the elderly patient was misleading. “We have CCTV footage from the same day showing the patient walking comfortably with a walker,” he said.