Mumbai | September 9, 2026
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation will begin a recruitment drive to fill 790 additional posts at Cooper Hospital and Hinduhridaysamrat Shivsenapramukh Balasaheb Thackeray Trauma Care Hospital, Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Health) Sharad Ughade said during a meeting on Tuesday. The move is intended to address staff shortages that have affected hospital services and patient care.
The meeting was held at the Trauma Care Hospital in Jogeshwari under the chairmanship of Mumbai North-West Member of Parliament Ravindra Waikar. Senior civic health officials, hospital administrators and local representatives attended the discussion on pending issues concerning the constituency and Cooper Hospital.
According to the information presented at the meeting, the BMC health department had not revised the staffing pattern for its hospitals since 2013. Several posts, including positions for doctors, have consequently remained vacant, placing pressure on services at the two hospitals. Ughade said a new staffing pattern had now been prepared and that the 790 posts would be filled soon.
The meeting also addressed access to medicines. Generic medicine facilities are to be introduced at 50 BMC hospitals after Waikar raised the issue with Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Prataprao Jadhav. The facility at Cooper Hospital has been completed, while a similar service is expected to begin at the Trauma Care Hospital.
The Trauma Care Hospital, which serves patients from Jogeshwari, Andheri and Goregaon, does not currently have a physiotherapy department. The hospital administration assured officials that the service would be launched soon. Paediatric surgeries will also be introduced at the facility, in addition to Cooper Hospital. Ughade said the tender process for establishing a neonatal intensive care unit at the Trauma Care Hospital was in its final stage.
The hospital currently has 10 intensive care unit beds. Waikar directed officials to examine increasing the capacity to 100 beds, saying the existing provision was inadequate for a major trauma facility. The administration said the proposal would be discussed before a decision was taken.
The meeting also reviewed hospital construction and staffing policies. Work on a 150-bed maternity hospital at Oshiwara is under way and is expected to be completed by December 2026, Ughade said. The design for another proposed maternity hospital at Scotts Colony has been completed, with the tender process expected to begin soon. A decision on raising the maximum age for contractual employees from 38 to 43 years will be taken after discussions with senior officials.
Waikar directed officials to take action against contractors that had failed to deposit employees’ provident fund contributions, including blacklisting agencies where warranted. He also suggested an 11-member monitoring committee to review hospital operations, along with CCTV cameras at important locations, prominent patient information boards and permission for self-help groups to operate hospital canteens.
The MP further proposed a public toilet near Cooper Hospital for patients and relatives travelling from Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. He said he was prepared to use his MP fund for the facility if the hospital administration could make suitable land available. The proposed recruitment, service additions and infrastructure measures will now require implementation by the BMC health department and the two hospital administrations.
