Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Ambuja Neotia Group and ICICI Lombard open a Care Centre in Kolkata

Ambuja Neotia & ICICI Lombard jointly announce the opening of ‘Vinod Neotia Covid Care Centre’ — a 58-bed first-line COVID care facility in New Town. Located adjacent to Bhagirathi Neotia Woman and Child Care Centre, New Town, this facility is set to start operations from today.

ICICI Lombard, has provided the medical equipment to the Covid Care centre, which comprises 48 oxygen-aided beds for mild or moderately affected Covid-19 patients and 10 High dependency unit (HDU) beds. The centre will provide nursing assistance and lab support 24×7, HDU beds for treating critical as well as mild Covid cases requiring hospitalization.

It will have specialist consultants on call, and provide Phone Triaging (interactive process between the nurse and the caller which is the patient in this case, to seeking guidance and query resolution multiple times in a day to minimize physical contact) — all in a protected area following infection control protocols and international standards.

In case of patients requiring critical care treatment, they will be referred to a step-up Covid hospital.

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In that case, to extend support to those patients till they are transferred to the Critical Care Hospital, the HDU has been equipped with 7 ventilator cardiac monitors along with qualified nurse and technicians, in addition to the doctors.

The Centre will offer services at a subsidised rate. Admissions will be based on the level of care the Centre is providing.

Speaking on the occasion, Harshavardhan Neotia, Chairman, Ambuja Neotia, said, “In the present scenario, the healthcare system is overwhelmed with the rapid rise in cases. This Centre is a small step towards supporting patients who need specialised initial care. We want to ensure that the patients get timely treatment for a speedy recovery.”

On the opening of the Covid care centre, Bhargav Dasgupta, MD & CEO, ICICI Lombard, said “We are happy to partner with the Ambuja Neotia group for the dedicated Covid care centre. Providing Covid-19 focused medical facilities to society is the need of the hour. At ICICI Lombard, we have taken multiple steps to curtail the impact of the virus over the last 2 years. These include providing oxygen concentrators, social distancing facilitating equipment, initiating vaccination drive for the underprivileged sections, among others. While these are small efforts, we believe that collectively India Inc. can play a critical role in mitigating the impact of the pandemic.”

With the second wave hitting the masses harder, the new initiative is aimed at boosting the medical infrastructure in the Eastern part of the country, which is witnessing increased Covid cases as well as the impact of Cyclone Yaas in the last few days.

The centre has been conceptualised by Hosmac India Pvt. Limited led by Vivek Desai. For the Covid care ward, the nurse-to-patient ratio will not be more than 1:4, and for the HDU facility, it will be 1:1 to ensure proper care for all patients. For Radiological and Cardiological assessment, the centre will have X-Ray & ECG facilities available. The environment of the Centre is being taken care of with HEPA filter and UVGA filtration process, which will be helpful for patients and the medical staff working inside the Covid Care Centre.

For ICICI Lombard, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is part of its vision of playing the role of a responsible corporate citizen and truly demonstrate its brand ethos of ‘Nibhaye Vaade’ in diverse areas of influence. Accordingly, CSR has been a long-standing commitment for the company and forms an integral part of its activities. In its efforts to provide support amid the current pandemic, the company is conducting a vaccination drive in Mumbai by covering around 60,000 disadvantaged people. It has also provided 1,000 oxygen concentrators across Nagpur, Delhi and Lucknow, which have seen high number of Covid positive cases.