India needs its well-established individuals to take a lead in developing welfare services rather than depending all the time on government services, Larsen & Toubro Group Chairman A M Naik said on Sunday, March 7, 2021.
Quality healthcare needs continuing innovation and long-term commitment, he said.
“Affordable healthcare is the lifeline of hope for those in need. Ideally, we should never let lack of money come between patient and cure,” Naik said.
Naik, a Padma Vibhushan awardee, has set up a soon-to-be-inaugurated 100-bed cancer hospital at an eight-acre campus ‘AM Naik Healthcare Complex’ in Gujarat.
It aims to cater to the people of the region and India’s Vice President of M Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone of 500-bed Nirali Multi-speciality hospital in the same complex recently.
“In a large country like India, we cannot depend on the government for all assistance. It is our individual responsibility to do whatever we can to help those less fortunate than ourselves,” Naik told , after starting work through his own trust on multi-speciality hospital at Navasari in rural south Gujarat.
An efficient and affordable healthcare system can “reduce financial burden on the poor, improve worker productivity, reduce absenteeism in schools, and ultimately, have a strong positive correlation with growth”, Naidu said.
He said this while laying the foundation stone on March 5 and had suggested to the governments to partner proactively with the private sector to take modern medical facilities to rural areas, particularly the remote regions.
Nirali Multi Specialty Hospital will be equipped with the state-of-the-art facilities and manned by dedicated teams of experienced doctors and nursing staff. It will offer a wide range of services including endocrinology, nephrology, diabetology, respiratory medicine and periodic health check-up.
Advanced procedures such as general surgery including gastroenterology and urology, cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, pediatrics including neonatology, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedic treatment and emergency, critical care and trauma care will also be provided, Naik said.
“My focus for philanthropy is on South Gujarat, my janmabhoomi (birth place) and Mumbai, my karmabhoomi. Our mission is to provide the finest medical care to the largest number of people,” added Naik.
The Nirali Cancer Hospital will provide a comprehensive cancer care under one roof and is equipped with the latest medical facilities such as radiation oncology with two linear accelerators and brachytherapy and surgical oncology with two state-of-the-art major modular operation theatres, among others.
The eight-acre healthcare complex will also have residential facilities for doctors, staff and accommodation for nurses, utility block, services building, liquid oxygen tank yard and parking space, he said.
Naik-led Nirali Memorial Medical Trust already runs a radiation centre in Surat, a multi-dignostic healthcare centre in Powai Mumbai, a hospital in Kharel in South Gujarat.
It also runs Geeta Gram, a residential colony for doctors, staff and nurses within the Kharel Hospital campus, and Mobile HealthcareVan to provide doorstep healthcare services to the underprivileged in South Gujarat.
“This multi-specialty hospital and the adjoining cancer hospital which form part of the AM Naik Healthcare Campus is a pathbreaking initiative in catering to the healthcare needs of the people of this region,” Naidu has said in Navasari. Apart from medical philanthropy Naik also runs Naik Charitable Trust dedicated to promoting education and skill-building in the region.
“Quality healthcare needs continuing innovation and long-term commitment,” added Naik. (PTI)
