12 September,2019 07:29 AM IST | Mumbai | Arita Sarkar
A sample of the sign board that will be installed at four govt hospitals in city
Patients and their families often find government hospitals a little confusing while navigating through different departments and mostly depend on doctors and ward boys for directions. However, a non-profit organisation is working on a project to provide seamless navigation to the visitors.
Project Mumbai, along with a team from J.P. Morgan, is building an integrated offline and online signage plan for four government hospitals in the city. The work began in June with Sion Hospital, which sees a daily footfall of around 2,000 people.
Project Mumbai CEO and co-founder Shishir Joshi said, "There are multiple buildings housing different departments in every hospital. The signs and the mobile application will mean doctors can focus on tending to patients, and will ease much of the external pressure on patients and their kin."
Rupali Vaidya, NGO's head of projects, said they are getting help from doctors at the Sion Hospital on the locations of various departments. "The signage will indicate the name of the facility, what it offers and where it is located. The designs have been approved and the production will begin soon," Vaidya added. She said the project will be complete by the end of this year.
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Vaidya said there will be viewfinders outside the building and boards with information about various departments, which will be colour-coded, and the same will reflect in the mobile app.
"There will also be signage in the corridors, with names of doctors and emergency signs in two languages - English and Marathi," she said. KEM Hospital, Nair Hospital and JJ Hospital are the other hospitals that will benefit from the project, which is being executed in phases. The work at KEM Hospital will begin next, after Ganpati festival.
While J.P. Morgan is funding the mobile app as part of their CSR activities, Project Mumbai is investing around R10-15 lakh on the production and installation of the signs at Sion Hospital.
Joshi said they are looking for partners for financial help for the next three hospitals. Sion Hospital Dean Dr. Mohan Joshi called the project "a modern thought and a unique concept."
Meanwhile, KEM Hospital Dean Dr. Hemant Deshmukh pointed out that while the app has the potential to help people, many may not be able to use it initially. "We have guides but don't have designated areas where visitors can seek help to install and figure out the app. But we can appoint a host and hostess who can help people with the app," he added.
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