PGH dream takes shape

The long held dream of the managing committee of The B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital (PGH) to build a separate state of the art multi-disciplinary hospital complex on the ample grounds for secular use without discrimination of caste, creed or religion has been given a firm foundation with a munificent donation by Jal and Pervin Shroff of Hong Kong. The couple has agreed to contribute US $ 20 million towards the cost of setting up the new hospital plus an additional US $ 2.5 million specifically earmarked for the oncology department, mentions a press release issued by Homa Petit, PGH chairman.

The name of the new hospital building, which will be decided by the donors, will also include a reference to PGH in the nomenclature. The amount of US $ 22.5 million (about Rs 135 crores based on the present rate of exchange) will be distributed by the donors in a time based manner on achievement of agreed milestones.
The new hospital will serve the cosmopolitan population of Bombay and its surrounding areas. Underprivileged sections of the Parsi Zoroastrian community will be able to avail of the most modern diagnostic facilities at affordable prices on the campus of the PGH itself.
For over a century now, the PGH has been serving the poor and underprivileged sections of the Parsi Zoroastrian community, with more than 50% of the beds free or at highly subsidized rates, including the cost of expensive and sophisticated medical diagnostic services which are outsourced as they are not currently available in PGH, notes the write-up.
The rising cost of medical services and the need to keep up with advances in medical technology has put a heavy strain on PGH’s financial resources making it virtually impossible for the management to continue providing the necessary level of diagnostic and medical care for the much needed "absolutely free” or subsidized section of the hospital’s Parsi Zoroastrian patients. But with the injection of funds for the new hospital, agreements for the commencement of the project having been executed on March 18, 2015, there is hope for the future, the press note states.
The new hospital will be operated and managed by the Dr Ardeshir Jehangirshaw Kohiyar Memorial Trust with Bomi J. Shroff and Berjis Desai appointed trustees as representatives of the donors on that Trust.
Technecon Healthcare Private Limited, that prepared a financial feasibility report and market analysis report in March 2014 for the project, have been appointed project consultants and architects Somaya and Kalappa Private Limited will execute it, the press release mentions.