Mumbai’s newly refurbished ENT hospital ready for use

After two years of renovation, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday, inaugurated the state-of-the-art hospital dedicated for ear, nose and throat (ENT). The civic body has spent Rs 24 crore on the renovations and providing new facilities like modular operation theatre (OT), X-ray department, pathology laboratory, audiology laboratory and Outpatient Department (OPD).

The chief medical officer of the hospital said these new facilities will benefit many patients and it will become easy for the doctors to treat them with the new equipment. “The modular OT has the laminar flooring is anti-bacterial, which safeguards against patients catching infections during an operation. From three beds for patients for before and after any operations, we have increased it to five beds,” said Dr Deepika Rana, CMO, Atmasingh Jethasingh Banke Bihari (AJB) ENT hospital.

She further added, they have upgraded the OPD, audiology department, pathology laboratory and other departments hoping for more number of footfalls. “On a daily basis, we get nearly 300-400 patients, but now we the number might increase after refurbishing the hospital and adding hi-tech machines. Treatment for patients will be fast and easy,” Dr Rana said.

Dr Padmaja Keskar, an executive health officer said, it is the only dedicated ENT hospital in the city that provides better treatment to the patients suffering from ear, nose or throat problems.

According to the firm carrying out the restoration work said the challenge was to update the hospital’s facilities and enhance the structure. “There is no specific single architectural design in this structure. It has a fusion design related to Gothic, neoclassic style architecture. In phase one which was completed in 2011, structural repairs and roof repairs were done on priority basis. In the second phase, the restoration work of the interior structure was done,” said Rahul Chemburkar from Vaastuvidhaan Project.

The civic-run Atmasingh Jethasingh Banke Bihari (AJB) ENT Hospital is a historic structure which was constructed in 1904 to house the offices of the Bombay Improvement Trust (BIT) and later the structure was converted into a hospital in 1964. The proposal for the restoration project was floated in 2008 and the final restoration work had started in January 2017. The restorted hospital was inaugurated by the Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshawar along with the Deputy Mayor Hemangi Worlikar and health committee chairman Archana Bhalerao.

Dr Padmaja Keskar, an executive health officer said, it is the only dedicated ENT hospital in the city that provides better treatment to the patients suffering from ear, nose or throat problems