21 March,2015 07:34 AM IST | | Shashank Rao
Shree Mahaganapati Hospital is already a boon for thousands of villagers in and around Titwala, as it offers them accessible medical care; the hospital is now in talks with authorities to take on railway victims
Shree Mahaganapati Hospital in Titwala is already vital to the area. It will now be even more so, since the hospital is in talks with the railways to take on victims of railway accidents. The hospital is the only secondary multi-specialty in Titwala, and is the go-to place for any person looking for affordable healthcare facilities in medicines.
Local villagers depend on Shree Mahaganapati Hospital for affordable healthcare. It is now considering taking on victims of railway accidents as well. Pics/Datta Kumbhar
There are around 68 villages in and around Titwala and the area was wanting for good healthcare facilities. Before it, locals from the villages and adivasi padas would have to go all the way to Kalyan or Thane to get treated for diseases. Barring a polyclinic that opened in 2000, there was no secondary hospital here.
"There are around 68 villages between Vasind and Murbad and even parts of Shahpur. Patients would die while being taken to a hospital in Kalyan. Pregnant women, too, used to suffer," said Vikrant Bapat, the founder and chief operating officer of the hospital.
Bapat, who worked as a neuro-technologist at Hinduja Hospital for 19 years, established the hospital in October 2012 with the help of some locals. Funds were collected from private donors, NGOs, and city hospitals donated equipment.
Boon
In the last two years, the hospital has seen 150 deliveries. In a recent case, doctors claimed a pregnant adivasi woman had been brought in the middle of the night and the child's condition was deteriorating. Doctors managed to deliver the baby and kept both mother and child under their care for 10 days.
The family didn't have the money to pay the hospital bill of Rs. 70,000, so a local NGO stepped in to help. Bapat said the doctors' fees and operation costs are half of what private hospitals anywhere charge. "Our monthly expenditure is Rs 24 lakh, which is partially taken care of by our friends, family, and non-profit organisations. However, we need money for helping poor patients and urge people to come forward (to donate)," he added.
In the last two years, the hospital has attended to nearly 30 heart patients, and sent them to tertiary hospital after stabilising them. The hospital is now looking to tie up with the railways to treat accident victims.
In fact, senior railway officials, too, had visited the hospital earlier this year. "We wouldn't be able to attend to victims with severe injuries as we don't have those facilities. But, victims with minor injuries can be taken care of," Bapat said.
Victims of railway accidents and trespassing incidents are often provided medical care very late since it takes time to get them to the nearest hospital. This hospital's 24-hour ambulance will come in handy. A senior railway official confirmed that they were indeed looking at collaborating with the hospital to treat accident victims. The relationship is yet to be finalised.
