CMC Joins With Government To Help The Poor

Dear friends:

Easter Eve, April 3, late in the day, CMC received the distinguished visitor, M. K. Stalin, Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He came to inaugurate a new program whereby poor people in the area around Vellore can come to CMC for treatment of serious illnesses with insurance coverage from the state government. I am attaching two pictures I took. The above photo is of the entrance to the hospital as it was adorned for the occasion. Below is a "lineup" of some of the dignitaries, from right to left they are M. K. Stalin; Dr Suranjan Bhattacharji, Director of CMC; M. R. K. Panneerselvan, Minister for Health and Family Welfare of Tamil Nadu; C Rajendran, District Collector for Vellore; and Dr Lionel Gnanaraj, CMC Medical Superintendent.

The Hindu newspaper reports: "The Deputy Chief Minister said the insurance scheme had enabled the poor to get advanced surgical treatment that the rich got in the best hospitals in the State. Previously, the poor did not have the facility of advanced treatment in private hospitals, which the rich enjoyed."

The implementation of this insurance plan is yet another reason for CMC to expand its treatment facilities both here in Vellore and also in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. CMC is seeking approval from local Vellore authorities to build an impressive new Out Patient facility on the very spot where Easter Eve's ceremony took place. A new clinic is expected to be the first construction on the land recently acquired in Chittoor.

A crowd of over 1,000 CMC workers and political party activists witnessed the inauguration under a festive tent just across the road from CMC. The land is currently used as a CMC parking lot.

Prior to the public event, Dr. Lionel Gnanaraj, Medical Superintendent, briefed the Deputy Chief Minister on the history of CMC and its present-day operations. Director Bhattacharji led a brief tour of hospital highlights.

Below are links to two news stories about the event. Sadly, the Hindu on-line story leaves out much of the detail that was present in the hard copy edition.

It was agreed that CMC will accept patients with the government-backed insurance from four districts: Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri.

The growth of publicly-supported insurance plans is part of an overall effort by Indian political leaders now in power to improve the lives of their poorest constituents. Medical crises are the most common cause of family bankruptcies, and it is to be hoped that insurance will greatly reduce the numbers of these personal disasters.

http://expressbuzz.com/states/tamil-nadu/tn-health-scheme-better-than-us-stalin/162328.html

http://www.thehindu.com/2010/04/05/stories/2010040552410300.htm

The program will be of use to some of the poor, but certainly not to all. It will do little for out-patient treatment of less life-threatening conditions. Funds such as Person to Person, to which friends of Vellore worldwide donate, are still very much needed to fill these gaps.

-Lou Knowles