Bel-Air Hospital

Facility and Revenue

Health care activities take place in several buildings across the campus. Buildings in addition to individual, free-standing hospital wards include the following: the mess hall, the matron’s office, an education building, a canteen, the nurses’ hostel, and several houses for staff. Both the ICRS and Fr. Tomy stated that facility maintenance and upgrading is needed. An application has recently been made to the Tata family to upgrade the mess hall. There is also a need for funding to upgrade a former operating theatre (approximately 9 rooms), which could be used as a training institute. Additional items needed include a new medication refrigerator (about 10,000R) and a machine that would permit Bel-Air Hospital to conduct its own CD4 counts (30 lakhs). Both the National Aids Control Organization (NACO) and the Avert Society have funded HIV/AIDS care at Bel-Air Hospital (IRCSb). The Avert Society is an independent society that was formed through agreement between NACO, the Government of Maharashtra, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Avert Society’s aims include providing comprehensive and holistic programming to people with HIV/AIDS and mitigating the impact of sexually transmitted disease and related infectious disease in Maharashtra (ICRSb). No external-funding had been received for the six months prior to the visit, which was adding to the challenges of operation. Administrators would like to increase the use of the Ayurvedic Center’s to generate additional revenue for the hospital. Boarding school students’ health care fees (500R/year) and private donations also support Bel-Air Hospital operations.