Aster Volunteers has announced that it has signed an agreement with Al Shifa Multispecialty Hospital in New Delhi. The agreement will see the firms work together to deploy a 50-bed field hospital to meet the shortage of beds for COVID-19 patients.
According to a statement, the initiative is aimed at supporting patients who are financially disadvantaged and in need of critical care. Aster Volunteers is the global CSR arm of Aster DM Healthcare.
As per the terms of the MoU, Aster will enable the development of the medical facility and ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place, while Al Shifa will be responsible for operating the hospital. Funds will be used to purchase patient beds, medical equipment and other items needed to operate the field hospital, the statement said.
“India requires aggressive measures 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,” explained Dr Azad Moopen, founder, chairman and MD of Aster DM Healthcare.
He added, “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.”
Arif Ali from Human Welfare Trust that runs Al Shifa Multispecialty Hospital remarked, “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 to India’s need to manage the pandemic.”
When the 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, the statement said.