Acquire Seven Hills Hospital or we can take over: BMC to govt
🔴 Located in Andheri, the Seven Hills Hospital is one of the largest Covid-19 treatment facility with over 1,800 beds. It was acquired under the disaster management Act by the BMC.
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In case, the state government is not keen, the civic body may itself go for the takeover, BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said on Wednesday. (File)To revive the debt-ridden Seven Hills Hospital, the BMC has proposed to the state government to bid and acquire the hospital by approaching the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). In case, the state government is not keen, the civic body may itself go for the takeover, BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said on Wednesday.
Located in Andheri, the hospital is one of the largest Covid-19 treatment facility with over 1,800 beds. It was acquired under the disaster management Act by the BMC.
Chahal said, “The total debt of Seven Hills Hospital is around Rs 1,500 crore, of which JM Financial has acquired debt of over Rs 800 crore from Axis Bank. We have told the state medical education department to approach NCLT, to bid and acquire it. However, if the state is not willing, BMC can also go for it.”
He added that if the hospital is acquired by the state, it can be run on the lines of AIIMS in Delhi.
A senior government official, too, called for quick action from. “If BMC administration and state do not act fast, then a good facility could of out of BMC’s hands,” he said.
The idea, however, is facing some resistance.
Chahal said that several councillors have opined that instead of spending around Rs 1,500 crore on the hospital, the government or BMC could construct another one for the same cost.
Seven Hills Hospital was constructed on BMC plot in Marol. In 2005, BMC entered into a contract with Seven Hills to develop the hospital on the 19-acre plot. While the hospital was built through public private participation, BMC often complained that it did not get beds as promised, in the contract.
The private operators of the hospital began facing a major financial crunch that forced it to shut down its outpatient department services in January 2018 to save expenses. The hospital management also faced problems in paying its doctors and other employees.
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