Pune Infra Watch: PCMC plans 750-bed hospital in Moshi to ease load on YCMH, serve rural patients

The announcement of the new hospital in a bigger space than the YCM hospital has received praise from citizens, activists and politicians alike.

The PCMC chief said the civic body would continue strengthening existing hospital facilities. “The eye hospital at Masulkar Colony has started. At the new Talera hospital, the work is in the final stage. Here, we are setting up multi-speciality services. We have planned a geriatric clinic at the old Talera hospital,” he said.

The PCMC chief also said the civic body plans to set up a cancer hospital in the city. “It will be a first-of-its-kind hospital and we are planning to set it up on a public-private-partnership basis,” he said.

Dr Rajendra Wable, dean of YCM Hospital and Medical College, said, “The new hospital has been planned on a 13-acre land. As per my information, the civic administration has acquired 9 acres of land.”

“It will certainly ease the load on YCM hospital, but only once it is set up will we know how much patient rush has reduced. Because of the peripheral hospitals running full-fledged, complaints from patients and politicians have come down. Earlier, these hospitals used to get 50-100 patients in outpatient departments daily. Now, this number has jumped significantly,” Dr Wable said.

Dr Wable said the new hospital would be a boon for pregnant women. “Even in the YCM hospital, we had struggled to accommodate all pregnancy cases. Earlier, two women had to use one bed which is not the condition now. The new hospital will benefit from border areas of the city and those outside the city,” he said.

Dr Anand Jagdale, retired superintendent of the YCM hospital, said, “I think once the new hospital is set up and functions full-fledged, it will be another feather in the cap of Pimpri-Chinchwad. The industrial city will become a medical tourism centre. Pimpri-Chinchwad already has a 750-bed civic hospital. And if it gets another 750-bed hospital, it will compete with Mumbai. We will leave Pune city behind in providing medical facilities by a civic hospital.”

Dr Jagdale said the PCMC should focus more on facilities unavailable at the YCM hospital. “One of the biggest deficiencies is regarding the burns ward. Patients from Pimpri-Chinchwad must be rushed to Sassoon or Surya hospital in Pune, as there is a facility to treat burns patients in the city. Secondly, accident emergency cases from Pimpri-Chinchwad are also rushed to Sassoon or other private hospitals in Pune. The YCM hospital is not well-equipped to deal with accident cases. And thirdly, the childbirth section should provide dignity to women and that they should not be crammed in the ward,” he said.

Dr Jagdale said the YCM hospitals needed the services of more expert doctors. “There is a pressing need to rope in the services of expert doctors in our civic hospitals. For this, we can tie up with bigger hospitals like Apollo and AIIMS to get their expert advice which will benefit both our patients and doctors,” he said.

Moshi has a strong connection with rural areas. Former Shirur MP Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil, who had tried to get a hospital like the YCMH in Chakan and Manchar during his tenure as Lok Sabha MP, said, “If the Moshi hospital comes up, it will provide a big relief to patients from rural areas like Chakan and Manchar. Especially for pregnant women, accident victims and snake bite cases, the hospital will help ease their travails. Such emergency cases must be rushed to hospitals in Pune or Pimpri-Chinchwad. Many times patients lose their lives on the way to the hospitals.”