A Parsi couple from Hong Kong has donated Rs 135 crore to south Mumbai’s Bomanjee Dinshaw Petit Parsee General Hospital, hoping to halt its decline. The endowment has been made with the intention to supplement the existing facility with a new 200-bed multispecialty healthcare unit that caters to Parsis as well as patients from other communities.
Article by Jyoti Shelar | Mumbai Mirror
The managing committee of Parsee General Hospital and the couple – Jal, a former Managing Director of the multi-brand retail major Fossil (East) Limited and its Director, and his wife Pervin Shroff – signed documents formalising the endowment on Wednesday. Work on the new hospital is scheduled to commence soon.
General Manager of PGH, Jal Adajania, confirmed the development. “Yes the agreement has been signed, but I cannot comment on particulars,” he said.
The existing facility will continue to serve the Parsi Zoroastrian community – it is situated on a 5-acre parcel of land. The PGH has tended specifically to this sect for the past 102 years. Half of the 220 hospital beds were set aside for impoverished members of the community (for free or at subsidised rates). “It has been evident for some time that the rising cost of medical services and the need to keep up with advances in medical technology has put a heavy strain on PGH’s financial resources, making it virtually impossible for the management to continue providing the necessary level of diagnostic and medical care for the much-needed, absolutely-free or subsidised section of the Parsi Zoroastrian patients,” a statement from the hospital said.
Impelled by these concerns, the management decided to build a separate 200-bed multi specialty unit with an oncology department for “secular use without any discrimination of caste, creed or religion”. “The idea is to do some income management. Sustaining the existing hospital is difficult as the population of Parsis has gone down and its costs are subsidised. By allowing non-Parsis in the new hospital, there will be inflow of some profits through which the existing facility can be sustained too,” said an official from the hospital who did not wish to be named for attribution.
“The new facility will be housed in a sevenstorey building with the same facade as the existing PGH hospital,” a member of the hospital’s board said.
Mumbai Mirror made several calls to PGH’s president Homa Petit and sent him an email, but he was unavailable for comment.
An analysis of PGH’s annual general report for 2013-2014 carried in the community magazine Parsiana stated that the number of patients being treated at the facility had fallen drastically. “A total of 2,533 in-patients were treated at the hospital during the period of which 48.22 per cent were free and subsidised cases. The hospital suffered from an operating deficit of Rs 836.18 lakhs,” the report stated.
The Shroff’s have made the donation on the condition that they retain exclusive rights to name the new hospital and oncology department (they have consented to a request that the name of the new hospital include a reference to PGH). Architects Somaya and Kalappa Pvt. Ltd have been appointed to design the building. The hospital will be operated and managed by Dr. Ardheshir Jehangirshaw Kohiyar Memorial Trust.
From Hindustan Times:
The management of the Bomanji Dinshaw Petit Parsee General Hospital (PGH), which provides subsidised treatment to Parsi-Zoroastrians, will soon open a new facility next to it.
The new 200-bed multi-disciplinary hospital in Kemps Corner will be open to general public, while providing subsidised diagnostic facilities to Parsi patients at the campus of PGH itself.
A senior community member said that the new facility is planned as a profitable venture and will help the community at the same time. “The PGH is running at a loss of Rs10 crore a year, and is struggling for donations to keep it going,” he said.
According to a press statement by the PGH management, posted on the website of community magazine Parsiana, the rising cost of medical services and rapid development in technology have put a heavy strain on PGH’s finances.
When contacted, a senior trustee of the PGH refused to make any comments beyond the press statement. The century-old 222-bed PGH hospital exclusively serves the community, making exceptions only for the family of the staff.
A community member involved with the new venture, but spoke on the condition of anonymity, said necessary applications had been applied for, construction was expected to begin by 2015 end and the hospital is expected to become operational in three years. “It will have facilities for MRI and Cat-scan, and units for oncology and cardiac that is not at PGH,” he said.
The project is being funded by a grant of US$22.5 million (Rs135 crore) from Parsi donors, Jal and Pervin Shroff, of Hong Kong, said the press statement. Of this, US$2.5 million (Rs15.6 crore) is for the oncology department alone. The Dr Ardeshir Jehangirshaw Kohiyar Memorial Trust will act as representatives of the donors.
Dr Sanjay Borude, obesity surgeon at Jaslok and Breach Candy hospitals, said these are currently only two hospitals serving the area. “If the new facility is open for all, it’s a welcome move. There is certainly a need for more facilities,” he said.