May was a happening month
for our Caring Friends Hospital and Research Centre as we inaugurated three new facilities for patients.
To celebrate Maharashtra Day, we opened our ‘LINK ART CENTRE’ which will operate under Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS). This new centre invaluable for the 235 patients living with HIV/AIDS who are direct beneficiaries of Snehalaya as well as the general public. Offering free investigations and free of cost anti-retroviral treatment (ART) medication, it also provides free counselling for newly diagnosed patients, families and the importance of proper adherence to ART. The LINK centre will ensure regular check-ups and medications for our beneficiaries on their doorstep in our own hospital instead of having to undertake frequent visits to our district hospital.
The second facility to open was the Snehdeep Patient Care Center for senior citizens and those suffering chronic health issues and in need of nursing support. The assembled guests included office bearers from Senior Citizen Clubs in Ahmednagar. Patient care centers like Snehdeep are fulfilling a growing social need of India, where increasing diseases, infectious epidemics and an increasing number of accidents mean more people need support. However with more broken families and shrinking household numbers, more and more older people are left unsupported and residential care is often only viable for the rich. Our new facility will provide all services on a not-for-profit basis.
Our third new facility was initiated in collaboration with Late Shri Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial and Rural Development Foundations Dental College and Hospital. Our 'Satellite Dental Clinic' with postgraduate students and the college’s faculty will provide dental treatments on-site in our hospital to Snehalaya beneficiaries and the public.
Together with these new initiatives, our Caring Friends Hospital is providing treatments including cataract surgeries, dental surgeries, ear-nose-throat diagnosis and treatment, and treatment for HIV patients. This supplements regular facilities such as OPD/IPD and emergency medical treatments to patients from rural, industrial and slums communities at subsidised rates.