Starting from 13 beds, the Foundation has expanded to 35 beds, and is in the process of expanding the facility to 75 beds.Marking World Hospice and Palliative Care Day on Saturday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation along with Sukoon Nilaya Foundation announced plans to open up seven free palliative care and adult daycare centres across Mumbai. Palliative care refers to care given to people living with serious medical conditions, focusing on improving their quality of life.“In Maharashtra alone, there are potentially 2.6 million people who need palliative care. However, only 20,000 get access to holistic and comprehensive care,” noted Dr Eric Borges, chairman of the King George V Memorial Trust, under which the Sukoon Nilaya Foundation was formed.Dr Borges, an interventional cardiologist, was the vision behind the Sukoon Nilaya palliative centre in 2021, a free-of-cost palliative centre offering all-round support to non-cancer patients, from physical to psychological to spiritual and social, the first of its kind in Mumbai. The foundation took root in Mahalaxmi, on the very grounds that the King George V Memorial Trust had started an infirmary in 1939. Mumbai civic body and Sukoon Nilaya will open seven free palliative care centresStarting from 13 beds, the Foundation has expanded to 35 beds, and is in the process of expanding the facility to 75 beds. A 20,000 sq ft facility has recently begun construction, due to be ready by April 2027, with philanthropic support from several organisations and individuals.Apart from the palliative care centre, the Trust began a free adult daycare centre, called The Sanctuary, in 2023, aiming to help senior citizens and specially abled citizens overcome isolation and loneliness.“I often think about what we owe a person for whom cure has ended and the need for care has begun,” said municipal commissioner Ashwini Bhide, at the event held in Nehru Centre Auditorium. “With the population of India aging with the years, it is possible that the fraction of our population needing palliative care will reach 20-25%.”The commissioner announced plans to collaborate with the foundation to open seven such centres in each of Mumbai’s seven administrative divisions. Maharashtra’s Governor, Jishnu Dev Varma, was to participate but could not due to administrative duties, sent a video message.Story continues below this adAt Sukoon Nilaya, patients with chronic and life-limiting conditions, including neurological, lung, kidney and liver disease, and even those crippled due to accidents, are given holistic treatment. The treatment includes pain management, occupational therapy and physiotherapy to better motor skills, speech therapy to communicate, swallow therapy to help them eat without a feeding tube, among the care they receive.Even caregivers are included in the treatment, with special attention given to their training and empowerment. The palliative care continues at home, through care givers, outpatient check ups and remote consultations.“The King George V Memorial Trust has around seven acres of land in Mahalaxmi that could house many beds for palliative care. But the funds are scarce,” said Dr Borges.