Now, free lodging for patient’s kin at JJ

Separate bathrooms for men and women and a water purifier are available free. On the right where women camp, iron grills are covered with a line of washed saris.

According to a resident doctor, the move has helped reduce overcrowding inside hospital departments. “Several families of patients used to camp outside the department with their luggage. They used to sleep on the corridors. Now, at least the hospital department is cleaner,” he said.

It was set up over two months ago. The hospital administration allows patient’s relatives to sleep overnight or rest briefly there. Jalgaon resident Kavita Patil, whose mother Chameli Dilip Patil is admitted for a liver surgery has been sleeping in the dormitory. “I wash my clothes in the bathroom and hang them on these grills. Since we do not need to pay for drinking water or accommodation, my only expenditure is on food until we return home,” she said.

The hospital receives 60 per cent of its patients from outside Mumbai district, confirmed Dr Nitin Bavdekar, JJ hospital superintendent. “Earlier, the relatives used to sit in corridors. They had no facilities and often made wards and toilets dirty,” Bavdekar said.

According to security guard Prakash Jadhav who maintains records of everyone entering the rest room, about 150 to 200 people sleep there every night. “One guard is always stationed. At night, we have to make sure women are safe as the hall is common for ladies and gents,” he says, adding, “Tendency of villagers to spit makes the job of keeping the hall clean difficult.”

tabassum.barnagarwala@expressindia.com