Mumbai's Parsi General Hospital Finally Opens Its Doors To All Communities After 105 Years

For the first time in its 105-year history, the BD Petit Parsee General Hospital at Cumballa Hill will admit patients from other communities. The hospital, launched in 1912, has approved the construction of another building at its Cumballa Hill premises, where non-Parsi patients will be admitted.

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The new facility will have 200 beds.The hospital officials said they were awaiting the civic and state approvals to start construction.

Homa Petit, president of the hospital, said, "The new wing will cater to people from all communities, even as the existing facility will treat only the members from the Parsi community. The revenue generated from the new wing will help the hospital provide free or highly subsidised healthcare to patients from the community. Our aim is to ensure our patients can avail of state-of-the-art diagnostic facilities at affordable rates on the campus itself."

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At present, more than a hundred beds at the hospital are reserved for the poor from the community, who are treated free of costs or at highly subsidised rates, and are also provided free diagnostic facilities that the hospital has outsourced.

The hospital sources said that admitting non-Parsi patients was needed to replenish the dwindling funds. "The cost of medical services and the need to keep up with the latest technology have resulted in heavy strain on the hospital's financial resources. It was becoming increasingly difficult to continue providing the necessary level of care as more than half of our beds are in the free or highly subsidised sections," a hospital official said.

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Over the years, the hospital has been receiving generous donations, especially from the members of the Zoroastrian community living abroad. A couple of years ago, Jal and Pervin Shroff, a Parsi couple from Hong Kong, donated Rs 140 crore to the hospital, of which around Rs 16 crore were set aside for the oncology department. Jal Shroff is the co-founder of Fossil, a company best known for its watches.