MUMBAI: St Elizabeth’s Hospital, one of the oldest healthcare facilities in the city, will undergo a Rs 70-crore partial makeover as one of its wings will be reconstructed over the next four years.
The B wing of the 100-year -old hospital, which is located in Malabar Hill, will be razed and reconstructed by JSW Foundation, the social development arm of the JSW Group, one of the country’s leading business houses.
“It’s a donation in kind. The foundation will handle the complete reconstruction of the B wing,” said hospital’s executive director Sister Sarla Macwan. It will be known as St Elizabeth’s Hospital’s JSW Medical Centre.
The hospital’s administration had approached JSW Foundation with a proposal for the revamp.
Although the hospital is located in the one of the most expensive areas of the city, it has been synonymous with affordable healthcare. Its website states that it was taken over by the Daughters of the Cross in October 1922 at the request of the then Archbishop of Mumbai. Over the years, it has developed into a 100-bed multi-specialty hospital. A few years back, its A wing was redone.
The revamp of the B wing will affect the availability of beds, a senior doctor said. However, the A wing will be operational with nearly half the beds.
Sangita Jindal, chairperson of JSW Foundation, said, “The redevelopment of the B wing is in line with our commitment to strengthen and improve public healthcare.’’ The foundation runs two hospitals in Karnataka (Ballari) and Maharashtra (Dolvi). The B wing’s redevelopment “into a modern medical centre with latest infrastructure and amenities’’ will provide patients with access to a “desirable ambience for healing and wholeness”, she added.
