The Charutar Arogya Mandal was set up in 1972 by the late Dr H M Patel, India’s former Finance and Home Minister, to create an example of how the healthcare needs of the rural community can be met. Today, our institution is equipped with health-care facilities and infrastructure that match with the best of those available to their urban counterparts and a network of educational institutions that graduate hundreds of health-care professionals.
Our 39-year-old Shree Krishna Hospital located at Karamsad in Gujarat is a 900-bed NABH accredited multi-specialty hospital with a Cardiac Centre, Cancer Centre with Bone Marrow Transplant facility, over 150 ICU beds, 21-bed Dialysis Centre, 20 Operation Theatres, NABL labs, NABH accredited Blood bank and a round-the-clock Pharmacy, all within a 100-acre lush green campus.
Our motto is: “Solace to the suffering”. We do not turn away a single patient due to their inability to afford treatment. Our Ashirwad services aim at treating needy patients almost free. They pay only for pharmacy. Implementation of government health care schemes supplements our efforts. Annually we provide assistance to the tune of INR 330 million.
We could reach here mainly due to the generous and consistent support of Trusts, Foundations and Donors who backed the institution at every stage due to its sound governance.
The nearly 2-month lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic was a big challenge for us. Conscious of our social responsibility, we continued to run our Trauma, Critical Care, Cancer and dialysis centres. Despite risk to doctors and staff we treated everyone who walked through our doors. Even those without the means to afford it.
Being one of the large Hospitals in the region, Shree Krishna Hospital was identified as a 'Dedicated Covid-19 District Hospital' by the Govt. of Gujarat for treatment of Covid-19 cases. Our 102-bed Waymade Critical Care Centre was dedicated for the purpose. By end September 2020, we had treated 1270 patients, 620 of them positive. Assistance from several donors and philanthropic organisations helped us to cope with the requirement of consumables and enabled us to adequately protect our patients and Care givers.
Our multi-specialty status enabled us to cope with the clinical requirements of Covid patients with co-morbid conditions. Our Deluxe Rooms & Privilege Centre facilities provided isolation and care. Our Home Care service to asymptomatic patients supplemented these measures. As our caregivers relentlessly fought the Covid pandemic, the large number of corona survivors as well as donor support inspired us to forge ahead.
Normalisation of the Hospital operations would take some more time, as the focus still revolves around Covid. As infections peaked in July, the 102 ICU beds dedicated for Covid-19 fell short. We began augmenting our infrastructure to finally add another 100 ICU beds for critical Covid patients as also critical equipment such as Ventilators, Multipara Monitors, High flow Oxygen therapy units etc. with donor support.
All along, one major constraint we faced was the testing of samples from patients suspected of having Covid-19 infection. Considering that the pandemic was there to stay for long time till a vaccine is in place, creating our own testing facility was a logical conclusion. This would provide us an edge in effectively dealing with positive cases in a timely manner, thereby saving lives. Thanks to Infosys Foundation, the lab was set up by October on a war footing. This would prove to be extremely beneficial & convenient to local patients and doctors.
There has been a heavy drain of resources, as all major income sources had dried up for a considerable time. On the fiscal front, we are limping back to normal very slowly. In this moment of crisis, all help and support we receive is invaluable, be it for poor patients’ treatment, equipment or infrastructure.
You could help us through our Charities in US and UK while availing local tax benefits.
a. To donate through our Charity in US: Draw a Cheque in favour of Charutar Health Foundation Corp and send it to: Charutar Health Foundation Corp, 5113, Piper Station Dr., Suite 300, Charlotte NC 28277. Contact: 704-364-6008 (Attn: Chandra Patel/Ravi Patel)
b. To donate through our Charity in UK: Draw a Cheque in favour of 'Charutar Health Foundation' and send it along with 'Gift Aid' to: Charutar Health Foundation, Unit 3, Devonshire Business Park, Chester Road, Borehamwood WD6 1NA, UK
c. For assistance, email us at [email protected]
