Hospital, civic body had locked horns in 2013

Mumbai: This is the not first time the SevenHills Hospital has faced the wrath of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Four years back, the civic body had compelled the hospital to comply with conditions of 20 per cent beds for civic patients and provision of medicines as per municipal rates.

The SevenHills Hospital was inaugurated by the then President Pratibha Patil on July 3, 2010. The BMC has allotted a 17-acre plot at Marol-Maroshi to the Hyderabad-based hospital, which has set up one of Asia’s largest hospitals – a 1,500-bed super-specialty health centre there. The BMC had offered the plot to SevenHills after the closure of a cancer hospital there.

While the Seven Hills hospital management had given in to almost all the conditions put forth by the civic body, the only bone of contention that remained was the 20 per cent quota to economically poor patients and provision of medicines free of cost or as per the civic hospital scheduled concessional rates.

The hospital authorities had claimed that they couldn’t afford it, as the medicines provided by hospital are all branded and costly medicines, while BMC’s medicines are generic.

As the matter reached the High Court, the dispute kept on lingering for three long years. However, the SevenHills management later decided to backtrack and accepted BMC’s conditions. Following this, the civic body signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the hospital management in December, 2013.

According to the MoU, the 20 per cent beds in the 1,500-bed capacity SevenHills Hospital will be reserved for poor patients. The reservation will be applicable to all departments like intensive care unit, super speciality, outdoor patients etc. In the OPD section, 20 per cent poor patients will get medicines at civic hospital rates.