In the wake of the death of 18 patients in 24 hours at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital at Kalwa in Thane, authorities have started shifting other patients, who are not in a serious condition and new admissions, to the Civil Hospital located nearby if they are willing to be relocated, officials said on Monday.

Thane's Additional Municipal Commissioner (in-charge of health services) Sandeep Malvi said in the 24-hour period ending on Monday morning, three patients died at the civic-run Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (CSM) Hospital, while one patient was brought dead.

The number of deaths at the Kalwa-based hospital has come down in the last 24 hours and the details are being compiled and analysed, he said.

Earlier, the CSM Hospital reported 18 deaths in the 24-hour period between Saturday and Sunday, following which Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ordered setting up of an independent committee to carry out a probe into the clinical aspect of the deaths.

Elaborate police security was also deployed at the medical facility.

The CSM Hospital was "over-loaded" and treating nearly 600 patients per day against its capacity of 500, as per officials.

The Civil Hospital located nearby in the city is being renovated, so the load falls on the Kalwa facility, former Thane mayor Naresh Mhakse, who is also spokesperson of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, said on Sunday.

Due to the renovation work at the Civil Hospita, many patients have no option but to rush to the Kalwa-based hospital, as per doctors.

Dr Aniruddha Malgaonkar, medical superintendent of the CSM Hospital, on Monday said the option of shifting has been left to the patients.

"We will shift only those patients who are recovering and from among the new admissions," he said.

The CSM Hospital admits around 150 new patients per day, which has heavily increased its load, he claimed.

The Civil Hospital, located at a short distance from the CSM Hospital, has a capacity of 350 beds and its occupancy is about 50 per cent, as per officials.

Asked about three deaths reported in the last 24 hours compared to 18 in the previous one day, a civic official said that on Saturday and a couple of days before it, some extremely serious patients were admitted to the CSM Hospital.

The deaths of patients happened in a short span, and hence attracted public attention, he said.

Most of those among the 18 deceased patients were over 50 years of age and many were referred to the CSM Hospital from private medical facilities, the official said.

"There is absolutely no medical negligence," he said, adding the hospital staff is extremely co-operative.

A doctor at the CSM Hospital said "how to do you expect us to ignore the patients when we took care of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic." He said as per the directions of civic commissioner Abhijit Bangar, they do not refer a patient to any other hospital when the treatment is available at their facility.

Notably, patients from the entire Thane district and surrounding areas come to the CSM Hospital for treatment.

Talking to PTI, Thane MLA Sanjay Kelkar claimed he had informed district guardian minister Shambhuraj Desai about the huge footfall at the CSM hospital.

Maharashtra minster Deepak Kesarkar on Sunday directed that a board be immediately displayed at the Civil Hospital, which is under renovation, to inform people that the facility is not closed. This will reduce the load on the Kalwa hospital, he said.

Guardian minister Desai said he was in touch with the Thane collector and the civic commissioner over the matter.

BJP MLC Niranjan Davkhare, who visited the hospital on Sunday, demanded that the administration increase the number of doctors, nurses and staff, and also ensure proper availability of medicines at the facility.

Davkhare told PTI that it has been decided to shift patients from the Kalwa-based hospital to the Civil Hospital in Thane to reduce the load.

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