Maternity homes turn into super-specialty hospitals, flout BMC norms

Flouting all norms, hospitals reserved for women and children by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have been misused over past ten years by private players under the name of 'charity'. These private players are offering super-specialty services in contravention of the agreements signed with the BMC.

In 2004, BMC had invited tenders from private parties, who had experience in providing charitable health services, for setting up maternity homes and maintaining these at a no-profit-no-loss basis. The PPP between the two parties mandated that the hospitals should be strictly run as maternity homes. Up to eighteen BMC-owned land plots were handed over to trusts or private players to build maternity homes.

dna visited three such maternity homes and observed that full-fledged private super specialty hospitals were running in their place, replete with relatively more profitable services like cardiac, orthopaedic, ENT, neurology and other services. BMC has time and again sought explanations from errant hospitals on why they overran their mandate of running maternity homes, but in vain.

Apex (earlier known as 'Vertex') Hospital in Mulund West is a case in point. Initially started as a maternity home in 2006, it is now a 100-bedded multispeciality hospital for cancer, heart, brain and bone ailments.

64-year-old Praful Tukaram Padav is coughing incessantly on his bed in the male ward. Padav underwent a bypass surgery at Apex Hospital last week. While Apex Hospital is a maternity home on paper, outside the hospital, a massive board hung outside lists services of cardiology, oncology, diabetology, laparascopy, orthopaedics, gastroenterology, dentistry, dermatology, nephrology and cosmetology. Not many pregnant mothers get admitted, though, said a doctor with the hospital. The hospital owes Rs 26.17 lakh to the BMC in unpaid property tax dues and Rs56,351 in water bills.

Dr Vrajesh Shah, founder, Apex Hospital said, "It is unviable for us to exclusively run a maternity home. We have overrun our mandate and started all specialties. We have time and again written to the BMC to change their policy, but they have not replied. If the BMC asks us to surrender the plot we will readily do it."

Similarly, Balaji Hospital in Byculla, which has been erected in the place of BMC's Victoria Maternity Home in 2004, is a cardiac specialty set up. While a maternity home should have full-time gynaecologists on board, Balaji Hospital (which is registered as a maternity home on paper), conducts a gynaecology clinic only twice a week for two hours on Monday and Thursday. On Monday, there was not even one female gynaecology patient in the 110-bedded hospital. "There are barely any deliveries conducted in the hospital," said a nurse with Balaji Hospital. Property tax dues worth Rs 18.97 lakh are to be recovered till date by BMC.

In 2013, BMC officials had discovered that another hospital in question, Imambada Maternity Home, run by Muslim Ambulance Society, had changed its nomenclature to MH Saboo Siddique Maternity and General Hospital. From 2006 onwards till date, BMC has served five notices to the Muslim Ambulance Society on account of multiple violations of the agreement signed between the two parties. The BMC in its notices has 'requested,' to hand over possession of the premises, but civic sources say that this is a far cry.

"BMC had served repeated notices to vacate the premises. Having handed over the premises on caretaker basis, BMC has the authority to ask the private players to vacate the premises at any point, if norms are observed to have been flouted," said a BMC official. However, trustee of the hospital, Dr Abdul Rauf Sumar defends his stand. He says, "We diligently run maternity services. The need of the area in which we operate is such that people require all medical services. We are catering to people's needs." The hospital needs to pay Rs 21.86 lakh in pending dues for property tax between 2012 to 2015. Also, water bills of Rs16,920 are pending. "We will pay the pending dues in the next few months," said Dr Sumar.

BMC's Health Committee Member Ashwin Vyas vehemently criticised the failing PPP model of the BMC in healthcare set-up. "While private players tie up with BMC promising to provide certain services, they keep on violating the terms of agreement to make their businesses profitable. Ideally, they should be running at no-profit-no-loss basis for the benefit of society," said Vyas.

Dr Bhupendra Avasthi, trustee, Surya Maternity Hospital in Andheri West, which also runs on BMC's PPP model, agrees. Surya hospital is one of the few that have never flouted any terms of BMC's agreement. "We run a 25-bedded maternity home in the space provided by the BMC. We have three full-time gynaecologists on board and have been catering to poor patients diligently. It is our duty to abide by BMC's agreements and not flout norms. While most hospitals have been given show cause notices for over running their mandate, we have never been served any notice," said Dr Avasthi.

"Despite getting repeated notices, certain hospitals have not taken corrective measures," said BMC's additional commissioner (health) Sanjay Deshmukh.