Patients Rejected, Hospitals Closing: Situation Worsens at Govandi Shatabdi Hospital due to Increased Cases
Struggling Shatabdi Hospital in Mumbai Faces Critical Issues
The Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (Shatabdi) Hospital in Govandi, Mumbai, is currently grappling with numerous challenges, including staffing shortages, outsourcing of services, and patient complaints regarding lack of facilities and delays in treatment.
The most significant issue arose in February 2025 when the hospital's Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) was closed due to a shortage of doctors. Critical patients were forced to be referred to other hospitals such as Rajawadi or Sion, causing serious delays in treatment and deterioration of patient conditions. After about six months, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) appointed additional Resident Medical Officers (RMOs) on short-term contracts, reopening the MICU and resuming full medical services starting August 2025. However, the re-staffing is temporary, with contracts set to last until January 2026, prompting activists to call this a stopgap measure rather than a permanent solution.
Besides the critical care staffing shortage, there have been complaints about the outsourcing and partial closure of other essential services. For example, ECG tests were once conducted by non-qualified staff, leading to discontinuation of the service. Patients regularly report closures or referrals for diagnostic services like ECG, CT scans, and MRI to outside private centers despite some facilities being available under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models. Pregnant women and other critical cases are frequently redirected to other municipal or state hospitals due to inadequate resources at Shatabdi Hospital.
The hospital currently has 210 beds but its capacity is undermined by these deficiencies. The hospital is undergoing redevelopment to become a 580-bed super-specialty facility, with about 70% of the construction completed. However, this project has faced delays and thus cannot yet fully address the existing resource and service gaps.
In the gynecology ward, patients are required to purchase surgical tools, medicines, and injections from outside due to a lack of supplies. Women delivering at Shatabdi Hospital have to buy medicines from private medical shops near the hospital due to a lack of availability at the hospital. The cost of these items for a C-section can reach around Rs 2,500.
In April 2025, patient Avinash Shirgaonkar died after being denied even a basic catheterization for acute urinary retention at Shatabdi Hospital. The ICU was non-functional, and no doctors were available. Ruksana Siddiqui, a former corporator, raised this issue with the civic chief in a recent meeting, suggesting a plan to privatize the hospital.
Many hospital services are either closed or outsourced by the civic body, leading to a sharp deterioration of services at Shatabdi Hospital. Most of the equipment at the hospital is outdated, and attempts to reach the head of the Secondary Healthcare Services Dr Chandrakant Pawar were unsuccessful.
In summary, the key issues at Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (Shatabdi) Hospital are:
- Doctor shortage leading to closure of MICU for 6 months in 2025, reopened temporarily with contract staff until January 2026
- Outsourcing and partial shutdown of diagnostic services like ECG, CT scans, forcing patients to seek services elsewhere
- Frequent referrals of critically ill patients to other hospitals due to lack of resources and staff
- Patient complaints about treatment delays and inadequate facilities
- Ongoing redevelopment delayed, causing prolonged strain on current infrastructure
While recent steps by BMC have restored MICU operations and increased staffing temporarily, the hospital still struggles with systemic issues and service reliability.
- India's Shatabdi Hospital in Mumbai, currently undergoing redevelopment to become a 580-bed super-specialty facility, faces critical issues such as temporary staffing solutions for the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) due to a doctor shortage, outsourcing and partial shutdown of diagnostic services like ECG, CT scans, and MRI, forcing patients to seek services elsewhere, and frequent referrals of critically ill patients to other hospitals due to lack of resources and staff.
- The health sector in India, particularly at the Shatabdi Hospital in Mumbai, is marred by systemic issues including a lack of facilities, treatment delays, and inadequate resources, leading to public calls for privatization as a potential solution for health-and-wellness improvements.
