Solar heaters & rainwater harvesting at KEM Hospital

The 83-year-old structure,the first hospital set up by the then Bombay Municipal Corporation,was dedicated to the memory of King Edward VII who died in 1910.

Restoration of KEM Building,spanning 5.2 lakh sq feet,was to take place in 2007; the delay has raised the estimated cost from Rs 57 crore to Rs 85.44 crore. A proposal to carry out the work at this budget has been placed with the standing committee and is expected to be discussed on Wednesday.

Civic officials said repairs on the hospital wing,in phase II of the master plan,will be completed in 36 months. The plan has five phases,of which the first phase,involving G S Medical College and Pathology Museum,is almost over.

The hospital wing will not be shut for repair. Patients will be shifted to adjoining buildings.

Conservation architect Pankaj Joshi,who is handling the restoration,said that over the years the structure has seen a number of ad-hoc additions. The structure,ground plus one when built in 1926,has seen the number of beds going up from 146 to 1800; lifts and air-conditioning have been introduced.

“Inside,the wards are very messy and doctors and patients face a lot of inconvenience. There will be a rearrangement of beds,wards and furniture on the existing premises,” he said. Leakages will be fixed,as will those parts of the building where wear and tear often causes minor collapses.

The hospital,which has a “ward pavilion design” with vertical ward buildings,will have a dedicated nurse station and a patients’ waiting area on each floor. As of now,relatives of patients crowd the lobbies.

Fire prevention arrangements,water and electricity connections and lifts will be modified. Since the hospital needs a huge quantity of water,there will be a foolproof rainwater harvesting arrangement to meet the demand,Joshi said.

The hospital has 390 staff physicians and 550 resident doctors. Apart from 18 lakh out-patients,it also treats 78,000 in-patients annually.

For those below the poverty line,treatment is free.

Slice of history
The KEM Hospital was built in 1926; its architect,George Wittet,had also designed the Gateway of India. The plans were submitted for approval to W A Pite who had designed the King’s College Hospital in London. Built with Yellow Malad Stone,the structure has Indo-Saracenic design.