Lift outage in KEM leaves ortho patients struggling for 4 months

Purchase order for new lift was issued in Feb 2023 but hospital says shifting patients was the hold-up.

MUMBAI: Four months after the lift in the stand-alone orthopaedic building of Mumbai’s largest civic run hospital stopped working, patients with fractures, spinal injuries and other orthopaedic ailments continue to take the stairs, many climbing three floors, for consultation and treatment.

Lift outage in KEM leaves ortho patients struggling for 4 months

Stretchers and wheelchairs serve no purpose at KEM Hospital’s Seth Dhurmal Bajaj Orthopaedic Centre and Research Institute. Some say they have seen patients being carried up the stairs. Besides, patients and others need to frequently visit the main hospital building for medical tests, to collect reports and buy medicines, again forcing them to use the stairs.

Apart from the orthopaedics department, the three-storey building also houses the hospital’s physiotherapy, psychiatry, and deaddiction centre.

The situation came into focus on Wednesday after Amey Gole, leader of the Shiv Sena in the BMC, shared a video online of an elderly man who had been treated for a fracture dragging his leg up the stairs. This sparked angry outbursts against the hospital administration, prompting the civic health department to order an inquiry into the incident.

“My son-in-law was admitted here more than a month ago and my daughter has to keep rushing up and down the stairs to go to the main hospital building for reports, medicines and other formalities,” said Nirmala Rajbhor.

Another patient said, “I have been admitted to the hospital for about a day for a spine problem. Soon after, I was asked to visit the main KEM building for a biopsy, blood tests and other tests. The absence of a lift has made my back pain worse.”

KEM dean Dr Harish Pathak said a purchase order for a new lift, to replace the almost 40-year-old lift, had been issued on February 16, 2023. Since the lift shaft requires extensive structural work, patients who can walk unassisted can continue to be admitted to the orthopaedic wing, while those who can’t can be admitted to the main KEM hospital building, where lift facilities are available. “A decision was taken in May and all orthopaedic units have been instructed to follow this decision,” he said.

He added, “The lift shaft, pit and waterproofing are expected to be completed in about a week’s time. Thereafter, the new lift should be installed, test runs conducted and the new system should be commissioned in about 30 days.”

Meanwhile, the BMC has an elaborate rebuttal for the senior citizen seen climbing the stairs in the video circulated online. The civic administration says Sahadev Kadam underwent surgery for a fractured ankle in May but he has since healed and his ankle can support his body weight without any support. It says his implant was removed on November 9 and that a plaster cast has been applied to keep his ankle stable. This doesn’t mean he cannot walk.

Pathak claims that although Kadam has been certified for discharge, he had been allowed to stay in hospital on the request of relatives who lived far away.

What the rebuttal doesn’t explain is why a 78-year-old had to take the stairs.