Mumbai: The Health Department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has directed four peripheral hospitals to manage their Medical Intensive Care Units (MICU) and Surgical Intensive Care Units (SICU) with internal resources after the outsourcing contract lapsed on August 30, even after an extension.
Hospitals to Use In-House Staff
According to a senior official from the Health Department, the beds reserved at these hospitals will now be handled by the respective hospital staff themselves. Until recently, MD, doctors and other staff were being provided by private agencies.
The affected hospitals include BDBA Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali, which has a 15-bed MICU and 15-bed SICU earlier managed by Universal Multi-Speciality Hospital; V N Desai Hospital in Santacruz, which runs a 10-bed MICU; K B Bhabha Hospital in Bandra, which has a 12-bed MICU; and K M J (Phule) Hospital in Vikhroli, which operates a 10-bed MICU.
Hospital Officials Confirm Internal Staffing
An official privy to this development informed, “Their contract ended in September 2024, and was granted a one-time six-month extension until March 2025. Despite this, the services continued. However, the BMC has now directed the agencies to stop operations and ordered the hospitals to run the units with their own staff, including DNB teachers and students, senior residents, and postgraduate medical officers.”
An official from K B Bhabha Hospital, Bandra, confirmed receiving the directive but declined to share further details of the decision. The official said staff from other departments will be pulled in to manage the MICU and SICU. “These jobs are hectic in nature and require dedicated personnel,” the official added.
Temporary Recruitment to Fill Key Positions
Meanwhile, BDBA Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali issued an advertisement on August 26, 2025, inviting applications to fill eight managerial posts on a temporary contractual basis for its Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) and Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU).
These include three DNB medical teachers, two DNB surgical teachers, one postgraduate surgical medical officer, and two DNB Anaesthesia teachers. The hospital has a total of 30 beds across both units.
Tender Process for New Contractor Underway
Sharad Ughade, Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Health), said that the tender process for appointing a new contractor is currently underway. “To ensure that patients do not face inconvenience, MICU and SICU services will continue to operate using the hospital’s own resources,” Ughade said, adding that this is a temporary arrangement and the appointment of a new contractor will be completed within one or two months.
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Past Issues With Private Contractors
However, past experiences with private contractors have not been encouraging. A serious lapse was reported at V. N. Desai Hospital, where a doctor without valid registration from the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) was found treating patients. The doctor had been deployed by the private contractor. Following this, the doctor was removed and the contractor’s payment was withheld.
