X-ray, sonography machines not working at ‘Chhota Sion’

MUMBAI: The X-ray and sonography facilities at the urban health centre in Dharavi have not been working for the last three months

MUMBAI: The X-ray and sonography facilities at the urban health centre in Dharavi have not been working for the last three months. Located at Dharavi’ 60-ft Road, patients in the locality either opt the paid but subsidised facilities at the centre or seek treatment at the civic-run Sion Hospital.

“The X-ray machines had been given to the centre as part of CSR donations during Covid-19 but they are not unusable. We get barely eight to ten cases for X-ray and there is no point spending on a new machine,” said Dr Pramod Ingale, dean of Sion Hospital.

Known as ‘Chota Sion’ locally, urban health centres are extensions of Sion Hospital. “The private facilities at the centre are subsidised and reasonable compared to private facilities elsewhere. Hence, I recommend them to my patients. For those who can’t afford them, we refer them to Sion Hospital,” says Dr Anil Pachnekar, a local general practitioner from Dharavi’s 90-ft Road.

However, Sion Hospital plans to convert the 200-bed health centre into a new facility. “We are gradually reducing the capacity of this facility, shifting chronic patients from Sion Hospital here or shifting patients when we are overloaded at the hospital. We also propose to set up a dialysis centre and an IVF facility here,” said Dr Ingale. Sion Hospital has a 1,900-bed hospital, which is currently being expanded to 3,300 capacity.