NEW DELHI (India CSR): In a significant step toward expanding access to compassionate healthcare, CanSupport, India’s leading provider of free palliative care, unveiled two Mobile Palliative Care Clinics (MPCCs) from Optum’s Gurgaon office. The initiative supported by Optum India as part of its CSR programme is designed to deliver free-of-charge, holistic palliative care services to underserved cancer patients and ensure dignity, comfort, and compassionate support for both patients and caregivers.
The vans were inaugurated by Jon Mahrt, CEO of Optum Rx and Chief Growth Officer, Optum, and Ms. Uma Ratnam Krishnan, Managing Director, Optum India, together with Dr. Ambika Rajvanshi, CEO, CanSupport.
The MPCCs will provide a comprehensive spectrum of medical, nursing, nutritional, psychosocial, and financial support to help patients during treatment, reduce avoidable hospital visits, and aid reintegration into daily life. It will be stationed outside major government hospitals, providing cancer care on designated days, while also travelling across the Delhi territory in the afternoons to raise awareness on cancer prevention and encourage early referrals for palliative care.
Speaking at the launch, Ms. Uma Ratnam Krishnan, Managing Director, Optum India, said, “At Optum India, we believe that meaningful change is driven by collaboration and compassion. Guided by our purpose to be a force for good in India, for India, our CSR initiatives have already touched the lives of over a million individuals. The deployment of mobile palliative care clinics in partnership with CanSupport marks a significant step forward in our mission to make quality cancer care more accessible. By reaching underserved communities across Delhi-NCR, we are helping ensure that patients and their families receive timely and much-needed support, right at their doorstep.”
Echoing the sentiment, Dr Ambika Rajvanshi, CEO, CanSupport, said, “The Mobile Clinics supported by Optum India mark another milestone in CanSupport’s continuing endeavour to bring palliative care closer to underserved cancer patients. Working in tandem with oncology units in public hospitals in Delhi will have the added benefit of improved treatment outcomes and quality of life while also supporting family caregivers. It will also help break the unfortunate association of palliative care as something that is only provided at the end of life.”
The collaboration underscores a shared commitment to improving access to holistic cancer care, combining Optum’s resources with CanSupport’s specialised expertise to reach patients and families who need it most.
(India CSR)
