Kalyan: Work on Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation’s 150-bed cancer hospital will soon commence in Dombivli, even as a 500-bed corporate hospital will open on Saturday. The Kalyan-Dombivli belt is clearly witnessing a post-Covid boom in healthcare, with a 50% increase in hospital beds since 2020.From 4,720 beds before Covid, the bed strength jumped to 7,138 in Jan, said a civic public health official. Roughly 1,000 are intensive care beds. However, as social activists pointed out, most of these beds for the 1.8 million population are in the private sector.In 2020, KDMC’s two key hospitals — Shastrinagar Hospital in Dombivli and Rukminibai Hospital in Kalyan — had 220 beds. Even after the launch of a maternity hospital at Vasant Valley, the beds in KDMC-run facilities increased only to 330. In other words, barely 5% of the beds are in the affordable public sector.Umesh Borgaonkar, group leader, Shiv Sena (UBT) in KDMC, criticised the civic body’s healthcare services. “KDMC may be implementing Smart City projects, but its healthcare system is in poor state. The civic hospitals don’t have ICU beds. Apart from basic fever treatment, dressings and maternity services, serious treatment facilities are lacking,” he said.Critical patients are routinely referred to Mumbai or Thane govt hospitals, he added. In fact, the flow of patients from KDMC prompted Thane’s Jupiter Hospital group to set up a 500-bed multispecialty hospital in Dombivli. Residents of KDMC, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath and Badlapur lived with inadequate healthcare for long. “In large Indian cities, no one should have to travel more than 45 minutes to get access to high-quality healthcare,” said Dr Ajay Thakker of Jupiter Hospital. Vinod Mishra, a resident of Kalyan East, said many multi-speciality hospitals in the KDMC region exist “only in name”. “Except for 2 or 3 hospitals, it was difficult to find facilities offering comprehensive treatment under one roof,” he said.The presence of hospital chains could bring pricing discipline among private healthcare providers here who charge high bills without offering facilities, he added. KDMC health officer Dr Deepa Shukla said the civic body operates three hospitals and two outsourced hospitals. In addition, KDMC runs 26 primary health centres, 50 wellness centres and 59 Hindu Hriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray Clinics. Efforts are underway to strengthen critical care services, said Dr Shukla. She said KDMC also plans to construct a 100-bed multi-speciality hospital at Gauripada in Kalyan. “But the project was delayed due to the absence of a consultant,” she added.Additional reporting by Malathy Iyer
