A majestic ballroom that hosted dance performances nearly 200 years ago has been converted into an ICU. Former staff quarters will now serve as private cabins for patients.
A 200-year-old mansion, which later functioned as a mother-and-child hospital before closing a few years ago, was unveiled in its latest avatar on Thursday — a 250-bed superspeciality private hospital.
The erstwhile Lohia Matri Sewa Sadan in Burrabazar has been rechristened Charnock Lohia Hospital and will begin operations on March 9, an official said. The hospital building is a Grade-I heritage structure.
“We finished the work in 15 months. The restoration was done in consultation with architects familiar with the norms governing the preservation of Grade-I heritage structures in the city,” said Prashant Sharma, managing director of Charnock Hospital.
Ballroom to ICU
The mansion — built in the neoclassical Greco-Roman architectural style, with sweeping staircases leading up to columns at the entrance — was home to the Mullick and Seal families in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It stands on a four-bigha plot on Rabindra Sarani, close to Nimtala Ghat.
In 1940, the building was acquired by a group of industrialists and, a year later, transformed into a subsidised maternity hospital named Lohia Matri Sewa Sadan. The hospital closed in 2017.
Seven years later, Charnock Hospital took the property on a long-term lease. The group already operates a hospital in Teghoria, near the airport. The new facility was announced in February 2024.
“This new hospital is a confluence of heritage and healthcare. Since it is a Grade-I heritage site, even the slightest change to the facade is not allowed. We have kept the essence of this beautiful place absolutely intact. We have only repurposed it. Staff rooms have become cabins. Large halls that once served as naach ghors (dance rooms) have been converted into ICUs and wards,” Sharma said.
He added that the wooden beams have been replaced with steel support, while the 20ft ceilings have been redone. The original flooring has been retained. “The 30-inch porous walls, which keep the rooms warm in winter and cool in summer, have not been tampered with at all,” he said.
Birth certificates of several prominent personalities from the city, including industrialist L.N. Mittal, bear the name of Lohia Hospital. A small room on the ground floor has been converted into a mini museum, where relics from the past — from birth certificates to old X-ray machines — are on display.
Facilities & services
The hospital will offer tertiary and critical care services. The three-storey facility has over 90 ward beds, 20 private cabins and 80 ICU beds across multiple critical care specialties. A paediatric ward, including a neonatal ICU, is located on the second floor.
The hospital is equipped with operation theatres, a cath lab, a 10-bed emergency department, a 10-bed dialysis unit, and diagnostic and imaging facilities.
A number of public representatives attended the opening ceremony on Thursday. The hospital was inaugurated by Calcutta mayor and Bengal’s urban development minister Firhad Hakim, who described it as a “feather in the city’s cap”.
Ministers Shashi Panja, Chandrima Bhattacharya and Sujit Bose, Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen, and Jorasanko MLA Vivek Gupta were among those present.
“There is a dearth of a proper private healthcare facility around the place where the hospital is located. Residents of Burrabazar, Jorasanko, Nimtala Ghat Street and Vivekananda Road often travel to south Calcutta or Salt Lake for treatment. We hope to address the healthcare needs of this section of the city,” Sharma said.
