JJ Hospital Seeks to Evict Sir JJ Mahanagar Blood Bank From Campus
JJ Hospital is seeking to oust the Sir JJ Mahanagar Blood Bank from a 10,000-square feet heritage building on the JJ Hospital campus in Mumbai. The hospital administration has been trying to evict the blood bank for several years because it has no official connection to the hospital and is currently facing regulatory action from the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) over alleged protocol violations.
According to JJ Hospital Dean Dr. Ajay Bhandarwar, the hospital urgently requires the heritage building to expand its own services. The hospital plans to use the space to establish new departments, including emergency medicine, transfusion medicine, and geriatric medicine. Dr. Bhandarwar stated that the hospital has been asking the blood bank to vacate the space for years to no avail.
Hospital officials noted that the Mahanagar blood bank operates from the hospital's premises and uses its brand name, but does not provide free blood or services to the hospital's patients. JJ Hospital operates its own separate blood bank to serve its patients and fulfill commitments such as providing free blood to thalassemic patients, senior citizens, prisoners, and remand home inmates.
The campus conflict has also impacted blood collection. While JJ Hospital has a daily footfall of over 3,000 patients at its outpatient department and requires 12,000 to 15,000 units of blood annually, it barely manages to collect 10,000 units. Hospital sources attribute this shortfall to the duplication of blood donation camps organized by both the Mahanagar blood bank and the hospital's own facility.
An official from the Mahanagar blood bank defended their operations, stating that they organize 25 to 30 donation camps annually and collect between 25,000 and 30,000 bags of blood. The official explained that they cannot provide free blood to JJ Hospital because they must levy testing charges mandated by the National Blood Transfusion Council and the State Blood Transfusion Council.
The blood bank currently charges government hospitals Rs 350 per blood bag and private hospitals Rs 1,860, according to the official.
