Now Reading: VN Desai hospital reverses closure after MLA intervention
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VN Desai hospital reverses closure after MLA intervention
Mumbai's civic-run VN Desai Hospital in Santacruz (east) has reversed its decision to shut for three months from 12 October, following political intervention. The 276-bed hospital had planned to move patients to Bhabha Hospital and Trauma Care Hospital, Jogeshwari, and shift OPDs to the old Khar dispensary. A chalk notice announced the closure on Thursday, 8 October.
On Friday, 9 October, legislator Varun Sardesai (Shiv Sena-UBT) and six corporators demanded the decision be withdrawn. Medical superintendent Dr Mayura Nagle said the BMC has stayed the shifting until further orders from the municipal commissioner, and all services will continue. Patients like Anees Sayyed, whose day-old son is on a ventilator in the NICU, had worried about the risk of shifting. The hospital is the only civic facility east of the highway between Jogeshwari and Andheri, serving areas like Golibar, Bharat Nagar and Datta Mandir.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The reversal restores services at VN Desai, but the underlying uncertainty remains for thousands of residents who rely on it as the only civic hospital east of the highway. The stay order is temporary, pending the municipal commissioner's decision, and the hospital's renovation is still incomplete, with parts of the ground floor inaccessible. Corporators from both Shiv Sena-UBT and Congress have questioned why the closure, planned with 80% of construction nearly complete, was not raised earlier. Patients like Sayyed still face the risk of a future transfer, especially while the hospital continues to operate amid ongoing construction. The next concrete step is the municipal commissioner's decision on whether the stay becomes permanent or the closure plan is revived.
The next step is the municipal commissioner's order on the hospital's future, which will determine whether patients can continue to rely on the facility or face the threat of a temporary shutdown.
Source: hindustantimes.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.
