Aster Volunteers, the global CSR arm of Aster DM Healthcare has signed an agreement with Al Shifa Multispecialty Hospital in New Delhi to help set-up a 50 bed field hospital to meet the shortage of hospital beds for Covid-19 patients.

The initiative is aimed at supporting patients who are financially disadvantaged and yet in need of critical care.

As a part of the memorandum of understanding (MoU), Aster would be supporting the development of the medical facility and ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place, while Al Shifa would be responsible for operating the hospital. The funds will be used to purchase patient beds, medical equipment and other items needed to operate the field hospital.

Dr Azad Moopen, Founder Chairman and Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare said: “India requires aggressive measures at the moment to be able to tackle the current situation. While our 14 hospitals in India, spread across Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana, are at a war-footing to serve as many Covid positive patients as possible, maintaining all the protocols needed to break the chain of infection, there is a sharp increase in the requirement for hospital beds being faced on a daily basis in major cities like Delhi, especially among the financially weaker segments of the society.

“With this 50-bed field hospital in New Delhi, we sincerely hope that we would be able to serve patients in need and save a few families from losing their loved ones. Apart from this, we are also planning to provide 50% discount on emergency critical surgeries like transplants, cardiac and oncology surgeries for needy patients through our Aster hospitals in Kerala.”

“While we are doing everything we can to help as many patients in Delhi and NCR, it is still far from enough and the situation is getting worse by the day. We are glad to partner with Aster Volunteers and increase our capacity to serve patients and rise up to India’s need to manage the pandemic,” said Arif Ali from Human Welfare Trust that runs Al Shifa Multispecialty Hospital.

With 14 out of 27 Aster Hospitals being based in India, and almost 70% of the staff across Aster DM Healthcare’s global network being Indians, the organization has built a healthcare ecosystem between GCC and India which is proving to be pivotal in Aster’s efforts to work alongside local governments to fight the pandemic.

When UAE faced its first Covid-19 surge in 2020, Aster was the first company to work alongside India and UAE governments to bring 88 nurses from Aster hospitals in India to manage the influx of positive cases. – TradeArabia News Service