Thane to have special hospital for epidemics soon

Thane will soon have a special hospital to treat epidemics so that people do not have to go to Mumbai's Kasturba hospital. The proposal, backed by Thane's guardian minister and mayor, will soon be passed in Thane Municipal Corporation's (TMC) general body meet this month.

Whenever there is a widespread disease in Thane or an epidemic, the patients are sent to Kasturba hospital as the district does not have such a dedicated hospital. Such transfers are risky, expensive and time consuming.

Hence, in a meeting Thane's guardian minister Eknath Shinde, state health minister Dr Deepak Sawant and TMC officials recently, it was decided to set up a special hospital in the city.

"The hospital will be built in Kharegaon in Kalwa on a four-acre plot and people from Thane, Kalyan, Dombivli, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar, Vasai-Virar, Mira road, Navi Mumbai, Shahpur, Dahanu, Mohada can come here for treatment," said Thane mayor Sanjay More.

"The proposal will be brought up in TMC's general body meeting in June for approval; after which we will follow up the matter with the state government for funds," he added.

Thane district has a population of 2 crore, while the city of Thane has a population of over 23 lakh. Though the TMC has its own hospital and other health centres, people are dependent on Kasturba hospital for treatment of widespread diseases.

Thus, the proposed hospital will ease the hardships of Thanekars as well as the entire district. To be built in a 1.70 lakh sqmtr area, the hospital will have 100 beds and will be as per Indian medical standards. It will have separate rooms for patients of contagious diseases and a 20-bed intensive care unit (ICU). A special ICU for children will also be there. It will have its own pathology laboratory, laundry section and other modern amenities.

The hospital will be built at a cost of Rs37.05 crore and the yearly expenditure on its staff will be around Rs7.60 lakh.