MUMBAI: Rumours that the 80-year-old Bai Jerbai Wadia Children's Hospital in Parel was set to close down were quashed on Wednesday. Ness Wadia in a statement said that he had no plans to shut the hospital. ''There are rumours that I am winding up business to settle down abroad. I am an Indian. I will die here in motherland," he said, adding, "Healthcare services in India are very poor and need a lot of improvement. The Wadia Trust will continue to work in Mumbai and improve the quality of health services," Wadia said after a meeting with state health minister Suresh Shetty at Mantralay on Wednesday.
The Wadia family and the BMC are joint trustees of the hospital. "We have appointed a four-member committee to suggest measures to improve services at the hospital, resolve issues among the staff and look into the grievances of the trust(money they are suppose to receive form the BMC)," Shetty said. According to civic officials, BMC releases Rs 12 crore per annum towards cost of medicines and employees' salaries to the trust.
The state government has set up a four member committee to look into the hospital problems. The meeting was called to review the issues related to hospital and measures needed to resolve them. The Wadia family and the civic body are joint trustees of the hospital.
"We have appointed four member committee to suggest measures to improve the health services of the hospital, resolve the issues of staff and look into the grievances of the trust (money they are suppose to receive form the BMC)," Shetty said. According to civic officials, BMC releases Rs 12 crore per annum towards cost of medicines and employees' salaries to the trust.
Besides Wadia and Shetty, the meeting was attended by J K Banthia-- additional chief secretary (helath), Bhushan Gagrani (secretary-health department), representatives of Wadia Hospital Bachao Kriti Samiti and Bala Nandgaonkar-MNS MLA as this hospital is part of his assembly constituency.
In the meeting the redevelopment of hospital issue too was discussed. "Hospital will be having more beds and can priced better accommodation for the relatives and those accompanying the patients, if the trust is permitted to use complete FSI, was the argument of the members from the Wadia trust," said a senior official present in the meeting.
