NRI plans booster dose for hospital

PUNE: Just like the famous Jaslok hospital in Mumbai was funded by Sindhi philanthropists Jasoti and Lokoomal Chanrai, another hospital, albeit on a smaller scale, is expected to come up at Hadapsar out of funding from non-resident Indian Lila Thanwerdas.
The foundation-stone ceremony for the Rs 7.5 crore Narin Lila Mohintara hospital, to be built in the memory of Lila’s late husband Narin, is scheduled for Saturday morning.Thanwerdases were largely instrumental in setting up the existing 25-bed Mohintara hospital, run by the Welfare Medical Foundation, in Hadapsar 10 years ago. The hospital has served more than 13,000 patients over the years, many of them free of cost and conducted 178 free medical camps.
A salient feature of the hospital is its 365-day free out-patient department, which is essentially for the poor of Hadapsar and neighbouring villages. Says Lila, “It is not as if all the funds are in place. I would appeal to philanthropists in Pune to also come forward and donate generously to the project. If every Indian kept aside Re 1 every day for charity, we could root out poverty from this country.�
According to Kiran Shah, president, Welfare Medical Foundation, the new hospital will have seven floors and a built-up area of 42,000 square feet. “It will be equipped with the latest gadgets to cater to every aspect of contemporary medical care,� he said.