To tackle patient load, KEM hosp seeks 42-storey tower with helipad

MUMBAI: When municipal commissioner Ashwini Bhide visited the civic-run KEM Hospital last week, civic officials revived an old, ambitious pitch: a 42-storey hospital tower with a helipad in the sprawling Parel campus. The proposal, still on the drawing board, hinges on a crucial constraint - the hospital precinct carries a Grade II-A heritage tag, which mandates preservation of the site's architectural character while allowing limited internal changes.

Bhide is learnt to have asked officials to first examine the heritage permissions required for such vertical expansion, given the regulations.

The proposed 42-storey Janshatabdi building, at 107 metres, would be among the tallest hospital buildings in the country, with only a private hospital, Medicover, in Hyderabad higher at 120 metres. In Mumbai, Kokilaben Ambani Hospital is among the tallest at 65 metres while the under-construction new Tata Memorial Hospital building in the Haffkine complex in Parel would be higher at 72 metres.

Officials present at last week's meeting said the BMC commissioner was receptive when hospital authorities argued that KEM's patient load-with 5,000 to 6,000 patients visiting its outpatient department clinics every day-needs future-ready infrastructure. "If we are planning for the next few decades, expansion has to be forward-looking," a senior official said.

But there's a catch. A similar proposal for a 42-storey structure had earlier been shot down by the heritage committee, which cleared construction only up to 55 metres (around 14 storeys). For facilities like hospitals, anything between 3.9 metres to 4.2 metres is one floor given the piping, plumbing and other facilities a hospital ward requires.

The file later moved up the administrative ladder, where the then municipal commissioner allowed a marginal increase to 67.65 metres (about 17 storeys)-the current ceiling for the project. "Any further increase in height will require a fresh proposal and clearances," an official said.

The proposed tower is planned on a plot that currently houses three dilapidated ground-plus-two structures, earlier used as doctors quarters and now vacated.

The public health department is pitching the highrise as a centralised critical care hub, bringing together ICUs and operation theatres that are currently scattered across the campus. "The idea is to function more like a corporate hospital-if there's a shortage of intensivists, they can be quickly mobilised within one building," an official said. Plans suggest five floors each for ICUs and OTs, while the existing hospital blocks could be reserved largely for emergency care.

A helipad is another key component, aimed at supporting organ transplant logistics. "KEM handles a significant number of transplants - liver, heart, kidneys. Patients can't always afford air transport. A helipad could be a game-changer," the official added.

However, architects within the BMC flagged regulatory hurdles. As per current norms, patient-related activities are typically permitted only up to 45 metres, beyond which spaces are restricted to non-clinical uses such as labs or staff facilities. "Any relaxation will need special approval from the urban development department," an official said.
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