The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation has ordered an inquiry at YCM Hospital after a viral video appeared to show liquor bottles, food and snacks placed on a post-mortem table inside the facility’s mortuary department, with an individual seen asleep on a nearby sofa.
The footage came to light after a person waiting overnight to collect a death certificate recorded himself trying to wake medical personnel. In the video, the person is heard pleading with a sleeping official after waiting for several hours. The material has triggered scrutiny of staff conduct and the functioning of a critical hospital department used by families dealing with deaths.
Maruti Gaikwad, acting dean of YCM Hospital and Medical College, told The Indian Express that the administration had received the video and would investigate the matter. “The video has come to us…We are looking into it. We will investigate the matter and take appropriate action,” he said.
Gaikwad said he had assumed temporary charge only a few days earlier while regular dean Dr Rajendra Wable was recovering from a medical procedure. He also said he did not know the identity of the medical officer seen sleeping on the sofa in the footage. “I am actually not aware of the medical officer who is seen sleeping on the sofa. I have taken the charge temporarily just a few days back. But we will investigate the matter and find out what has actually happened,” he said.
The video’s contents have not been independently established beyond the footage and the hospital administration’s acknowledgement that it had received the material. The inquiry is expected to determine who was present in the post-mortem department, whether hospital rules were violated and what action, if any, should follow.
YCM Hospital is operated by the PCMC and has a capacity of 750 beds, making it the second-largest public healthcare facility in Pune district, according to the report. It serves residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune city, as well as patients from neighbouring talukas including Maval, Mulshi, Khed, Ambegaon and Junnar. The reach of the hospital means that administrative lapses in its emergency, clinical or mortuary services can affect patients and families across a large urban and semi-urban catchment.
The controversy is the second reported lapse involving the hospital in recent weeks. In an earlier incident, a patient slid out of a moving ambulance during an inter-hospital transfer to Sassoon Hospital. The patient, described as homeless, was being shifted because YCM Hospital did not have a septic operating theatre. The hospital administration had asked the private contractor to take action against the ambulance driver and the staff accompanying the patient.
The latest inquiry will establish the facts surrounding the viral footage and determine the administrative response. The PCMC-run hospital has not announced a timeline for completing the investigation.
