Sri Shirdi Sai Baba uper Speciality Hospital

[Guest guest]

Shirdi’s state-of the-art hospital inaugurated

Shree Saibaba Superspecialty Hospital offers quality treatement at

discounted rates

Express News Service

Mumbai, May 7: DILIP Pagare feels truly blessed. Hardly a few metres

from Shirdi’s Sai Baba temple, he sits in the waiting room of a super

speciality hospital, waiting for his father’s bypass surgery to be

completed.

The carpenter from Malegaon, around 80 kms from Shirdi, was always a

devotee but he believes that it is nothing short of Baba’s miracle

that his father is in the care of some of the best doctors in the

country.

‘‘There was no such facility anywhere near where we live,’’ says

Pagare. ‘‘We would have to go to Nashik or Ahmadnagar and sometimes

even Pune or Mumbai. Now, just a two-hour road journey away, we have

an incredible option.’’

And it is not just the Pagares who can’t believe their luck. Matron

Manda Thorat says that this is the kind of institution she has always

wanted to be a part of.

‘‘I have seen patients die because they just didn’t have enough money

for a heart surgery or even smaller procedures,’’ the veteran matron

recalls. ‘‘Now suddenly they all have a chance. Everyone will now have

an affordable choice.’’

The hospital is already being flooded with calls from across the

region. Doctors from Nashik, Ahmadnagar, Dhule and even tribal

Nandurbar are queuing up to refer their patients to the super

speciality hospital.

Watching the renovated premises of the Shree Saibaba Superspeciality

Hospital resonate with hymns and prayers during the inauguration on

Sunday morning, Pagare adds that in no other place would his father be

operated upon in such a serene atmosphere.

‘‘It is a fact, not just the poor but anyone would want to get

treatment here,’’ says Dr Nagendra B Shah, a consultant eye specialist

with Bombay Hospital. ‘‘Imagine this. A patient undergoes an eye

surgery and when his bandages are removed, the first thing they will

see is Saibaba.’’

The 300-bed super-specialty hospital, promising quality medical

treatment and surgeries at discounted rates has got Shirdi talking.

‘‘We really needed this facility,’’ says Jayant Sasane, chairman of

the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust. ‘‘It was Saibaba’s will and we are

going to help Dr P L Tiwari fulfil his dream. Our vision is to

eventually have a medical college and an even bigger hospital.’’

To be run on a no-profit-no-loss basis, the hospital is equipped with

state of the art equipment, and a panel of honorary doctors from

across the country will come to Shirdi at least twice a month.

‘‘It is a unique opportunity for doctors like me to be in a facility

which is at par with Mumbai and Delhi hospitals and reaches out to

even those who can’t afford expensive medical care,’’ says

cardio-thoracic surgeon Dr Ramakant Panda of the Asian Heart

Institute. Officially inaugurating the hospital with a bypass surgery

on Sunday morning, Panda promised to be back.

In turn, Tiwari, who is also a trustee of the temple, has promised a

free darshan to doctors volunteering their time at his ‘‘dream

hospital’’, modelled on the vision that made his alma mater The

Benaras Hindu University so special.

Features of the hospital

* It’s a super-speciality hospital with 300 beds in a building area of

83,000 sq ft

* Twenty per cent of patients with annual income lower than Rs 50,000,

will be given free treatment and another 15 per cent will be treated

at subsidised rates

* The hospital has a state-of-the-art Cardiac-cath laboratory to

diagnose coronory artery diseases and for angiography. It also has a

Dialysis Centre with two units

* The hospital’s five operation theatres are fitted with advanced

equipment. There will also be three theatres are for orthopaedic and

opthalmic surgeries

* The Intensive Care Unit includes two wards with 20 beds. Two general

wards will accomodate 50 patients who will be treated free of cost