With the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world, CMC Vellore is committed to serving and caring for their patients with the best professional care. In this unprecedented crisis, they are seeking our support to face the challenges that lie ahead.

CMC is making preparations in case of large numbers of seriously ill patients needing isolation and high-level support. They are trying to buy ICU ventilators and protective equipment, although prices for these have skyrocketed.

This additional expense comes at a time when their income is down, because fewer patients want to travel or come into hospital unless their need is acute, and border closures mean that international patients are very low.

CMC are urgently setting up 137 beds in their upcoming Orthopaedic block, including a 12-bed Intensive Care Unit, to face the expected surge.

Ways YOU can help in this emergency:

Friends of Vellore UK want to send funds to cover the cost of one bed in the new Intensive Care Unit for Coronavirus patients. After the virus has passed, the equipment will be used at the new Kannigapuram hospital site. The cost of kitting out one bed with a ventilator (£14,800) and all other associated equipment is £31,400. Could you help us raise some of this to enable CMC to save precious lives? Any amount you can give would be much appreciated. Details of how to make a donation are here, please put COVID19 in the reference.

Please pray for the Director, Dr J V Peter and the administration team who have tough decisions to make and are facing many pressures. Pray for the hospital staff and students, especially those who will be on the front line if CMC starts to receive large numbers of infected people. Pray also for local people who may lose their livelihoods as a result of the lockdown.