Mumbai: Cooper, Trauma Hospitals To Get 790 Additional Staff As BMC Revises Staffing Pattern After 13 Years

Mumbai's Cooper Hospital and HBT Trauma Care Hospital are set to receive 790 additional staff, as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) revises its staffing pattern after a 13-year gap. The decision was made at a special meeting held at Jogeshwari Trauma Hospital, attended by Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Health) Sharad Ughade, health officials, hospital administrators and Shiv Sena (Shinde) MP Ravindra Waikar.

The BMC health department had not revised the staffing pattern since 2013, resulting in several vacant posts that have affected healthcare services delivery. The new staffing pattern will pave the way for the recruitment of 790 additional doctors and other essential healthcare workers at Cooper and Trauma hospitals. Trauma Hospital Services to Expand: During the meeting, discussions also focused on strengthening services at Jogeshwari Trauma Hospital.

A physiotherapy department is expected to be launched soon, while preparations are underway to introduce pediatric surgery services. The tender process for establishing a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) has reached its final stage, with the administration assuring the meeting's chair that a decision will be taken soon to increase ICU bed capacity from 10 to 100.

Additional Initiatives: The meeting proposed setting up an 11-member special committee to monitor hospital functioning and ensure better facilities for patients. Furthermore, an initiative to set up generic medicine centres at around 50 BMC hospitals was discussed, with the facility at Cooper Hospital already completed and the centre at Trauma Hospital expected to become operational soon.

The initiative aims to make medicines available to patients at lower prices. The BMC is also targeting the completion of a 150-bed maternity hospital at Oshiwara by December 2026, with a tender for a maternity hospital at Scotts Colony expected to be floated soon.