From 2019 Notice Over Denied Charitable Care To Death Of Tanisha Bhise—Know All About Hospital Built By Lata Didi In Her Father’s Memory

Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune City is embroiled in controversy after the death of a pregnant woman due to alleged denial of admission over non-payment of Rs 10 lakh as an advance deposit.

BJP legislator Amit Gorkhe claimed on Thursday that despite an assurance to pay Rs 3 lakh immediately, the hospital denied admission to the patient, and even a call from Mantralaya, the state secretariat, did not yield any response. The hospital, however, refuted the allegations and blamed the woman’s kin for providing “misleading information.”

Know All About the Hospital Built by Lata Didi in Her Father’s Memory

Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital & Research Center is a charitable, multi-specialty hospital located in the heart of Pune, India. Founded in 2001, it is one of the largest hospitals in Pune, with 800 beds. The hospital offers diagnostic, therapeutic, and intensive care facilities in a one-stop medical center.

The vision of the hospital, as per its website, is “To provide Rational Ethical Medical Services of Highest Quality to all Patients at an affordable cost without any discrimination,” while its mission states, “To provide competent, ethical, tertiary healthcare services with charity as a core value.” It also lists charity, patient-centric care, and rational & ethical medical practice as its core values.

It should be noted that the hospital was built in the memory of Lata Mangeshkar’s father, Deenanath Mangeshkar, as it was her dream to establish a hospital in Pune in his memory. Her father, Master Deenanath Mangeshkar, died at the state-run Sassoon Hospital in 1942.

She also raised funds for the hospital through concerts and cricket matches. The foundation stone of the hospital was laid by former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

Cut to 2025, when relatives of the deceased patient claimed that one of the doctors working at the hospital told them to go to Sassoon Hospital if they could not afford the treatment.

2019 Notice

In 2019, the hospital was issued a notice by then Pune District Collector Naval Kishore Ram for alleged violation of government norms. The notice was issued after a complaint was filed by advocate Ramesh Dharmawat of the People’s Union Party, stating that the hospital was not providing medical services at charitable rates.

Speaking with The Free Press Journal, Dharmawat said that if the government had taken strict action after the complaint, this death could have been avoided.

Dharmawat claimed that the Maharashtra government had leased out 24,000 square meters of land to the hospital for 99 years at the rate of Rs 1 per year in 2000 under an agreement that the hospital would provide medical services at charitable rates to the poor. However, he alleged that the OPD receipt still costs Rs 800 at the hospital.

Hospital’s reply

Meanwhile, Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital stated in its internal inquiry report that the allegations of denying admission to the pregnant woman over non-payment of Rs 10 lakh were “misleading” and made “out of frustration” by her family.

The hospital explained that the woman’s pregnancy was high-risk, with two underweight fetuses at seven months, coupled with a history of old ailments requiring Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) treatment for at least two months. The treatment required Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh, and the family was advised that if funds were insufficient, they could admit the patient to the government-run Sassoon General Hospital for the complicated surgery.