Mira-Bhayandar: The health department attached to the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) is mooting upon the idea of converting the morgue at the civic run- Bharat Ratna Indira Gandhi Hospital in Mira Road into a dialysis unit. Taking immediate cognizance of the news published by The Free Press Journal on August 17, highlighting the sorry condition of the defunct cabinets in the mortuary of the hospital, Municipal Commissioner-Sanjay Katkar directed concern officials from the public works department (PWD) and health department to assess the situation and submit a report so that needed action could be taken at the earliest.
The morgue had a row of three cabinets with an equal number of units to preserve nine bodies at a time. However, when the construction work to add extra floors to the hospital building started in 2017, the morgue was temporarily shut down. But the morgue never started apparently due to the improper handling of the cabinets which remained non-functional for the past more than six years.
Repair work on morgue virtually impossible
As per the report submitted by the PWD, all the cabinets were worn out to such an extent that repair work was not technically possible. On the other hand, the health department has said that reviving the morgue will require the purchase of new cabinets and the deployment of 13 personnel including 8 class IV personnel and four clerks headed by a medical officer. The health department has also suggested that the space could be utilized for setting up an additional dialysis centre as the existing one was incapable of catering to the existing needs.
Proposal before Municipal commissioner
Presently, 14 dialyses are operational in the hospital. Although in a working state, most of the units are old and often develop technical snags. The hospital receives an average of 17 to 20 dialysis patients on a daily basis and the existing arrangements can cater to the needs of around 400 patients every month. This leads to keeping patients on the waiting- list. “ We have tabled both the proposals before the municipal commissioner who will take a final call on whether to revive the morgue or to utilise the space to extend dialysis facilities.” confirmed health in-charge, Dr. Nandkishore Lahane.
Indira Gandhi Hospital | FPJ
