After six appointments in the past one-and-a-half year, Dr Ajay Tawre, head of forensic medicine and former medical superintendent of Sassoon General Hospital (SGH), was reappointed as hospital superintendent on Friday. Following alleged malpractice during a kidney transplant procedure, the director of medical education and research (DMER) in April 2022 had temporarily suspended the regional organ transplant authorisation committee and instructed Dr Tawre to step down from his post.
On Friday, Dr Vinayak Kale, dean of B J Medical College (BJMC) and SGH, issued orders directing Dr Tawre, head of the forensic department at BJMC and SGH, to immediately take charge as medical superintendent from Dr Kirankumar Jadhav. Dr Kirankumar Jadhav was appointed medical superintendent in September 2023. “The appointment order of Dr Kirankumar Jadhav as medical superintendent of SGH issued on September 5, 2023 is cancelled,” said the dean in his order.
Dr Tawre had served as medical superintendent of SGH for over eight years before he was removed in April last year. Dr Vijay Jadhav, who was then the deputy superintendent of SGH, was appointed medical superintendent in place of Dr Tawre. Three months later, Dr Vijay Jadhav was replaced by Dr Bharati Daswani in July 2022. Dr Daswani served as medical superintendent for eight months and in March 2023, Dr Vijay Jadhav was again appointed as the medical superintendent of SGH.
Before Dr Vijay Jadhav could complete three months, Dr Yellapa Jadhav was appointed as the new medical superintendent in May 2023. Dr Yellapa Jadhav was asked to step down from the post within three months and Dr Sunil Bhamre was appointed as medical superintendent on August 10, 2023. Dr Bhamre served as medical superintendent for less than one month and was replaced by Dr Kirankumar Jadhav.
The decision to reinstate Dr Ajay Tawre as hospital superintendent has come in the midst of controversies around the escape of drug kingpin Lalit Patil, an undertrial accused of supplying banned substances and being part of a drug racket who escaped from SGH on October 2. Subsequently, Dr Sanjeev Thakur was removed from the post of dean of BJMC and SGH. Dr Pravin Deokate, head of the orthopaedic department at BJMC was suspended and later arrested on December 4 in the same incident. However, frequent transfers of officials have made it difficult to manage the hospital administration efficiently.
Dr Tawre said that the SGH is a magnet for controversy and that the image of the hospital has been badly affected. “I will work to the best of my ability to make sure we regain the image by providing quality care and treatment to the needy,” he said.
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