The Cama & Albless Hospital (originally just Cama Hospital) is a hospital for women and children in the city of Mumbai, India, with 367 beds.[1] Since May 2024, it is has offered its assisted reproductive technology (ART) services for free, making it a first public-run hospital in Maharashtra to do so. In 2008 it was one of the target of the Mumbai terror attacks.
On the night of 26 November 2008, it was a target of a terror attack by Pakistan-based Lakshar-e-Taiba terrorists Ismail Khan and Ajmal Kasab, but their assault was unsuccessful. Khan was later killed at a shootout near Juhu Chowpatty, while Kasab was captured and arrested.
History
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The foundation stone was laid by the Duke of Connaught on 22 November 1883 and the building formally opened on 30 July 1886. The building was designed in Medieval Gothic style by Khan Bahadoor Muncherjee Cowasjee Murzban. The building was made from stone obtained from Porbander. Pestonjee Hormusjee Cama, a Parsi philanthropist, contributed ₹100,000 (~₹43 crore in 2020) to its construction.[2] He later provided an additional ₹64,000 towards the cause.[3] The staffing was provided through the Medical Women for India Fund.[4]
Pestonjee Hormusjee Cama, the founder of the Hospital.
At the start, all appointments for doctors were temporary and revised after five years.[5]Edith Pechey, was the first female doctor to join the hospital. She was one of the original cohort of female medical students at the University of Edinburgh (1869). Pechey was the Senior Medical Officer at the hospital from 1886 to 1894. She was the driving force in the establishment of the nurses' training school attached to the hospital.[6] Pechey along with her husband, founded the Pechey-Pimpson Sanatorium for women and children at Nasik Road[7] in 1891.[6]
Charlotte Louisa Elleby, an ophthalmologist with an MD degree from Paris, joined Pechey. Elleby started the eye department in the hospital as well as successfully handled the large number of outpatients for eye-related treatments.[8]
Annette Benson was the head of the hospital for many years.[9]
Services
ART
In May 2024 started offering free infertility treatment as part of its assisted reproductive technology (ART) services. In November 2025 the hospital became the first public institution in Maharashtra state to receive accreditation to expand its ART facilities to provide egg freezing egg freezing and sperm bank services. These services were extended for free to those who were eligible under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana, the state's health insurance scheme.[10]
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