32 nurses from Kerala to join duty at Seven Hills hospital in Mumbai from June 9

The hospital has become one of the biggest treating facilities in the city for Covid-19 with 100 ICUs. Plans are underway to add 200 more ICU beds, but Ramaswamy said for that they need more healthcare workers.

On May 24, Maharashtra’s Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) had written to Kerela Health Minister KK Shailaja, requesting that 50 trained specialist doctors and 100 nurses be sent to the state on a “temporary basis”.

Maharashtra government has decided to pay Rs 80,000 per month to a MBBS doctor and Rs 2 lakh for specialist doctors. A trained nurse will be paid Rs 30,000 per month.

Dr TP Lahane, director of DMER, said, “The 27 doctors have been working since nine days now. We will get 35 more by next week from Kerela. They are all going to be posted at Seven Hills hospital.”

BMC had last week sent a bus to transport the nurses to Mumbai. They will be provided accommodation near the hospital and continue to work until the pandemic threat remains, said Ramaswamy.

BMC and the state government are also recruiting through local agencies, have published advertisements in media and reached out to online job portals. A civic official said some nurses have also been recruited through hiring agencies.