Apollo opens its new unit at Pamba

Madurai: For the benefit of devotees going to the Sabarimala temple, the Apollo Hospitals Group has set up a critical care unit at Pamba, where free treatment and medicines will be provided.

The hospital has opened the unit, in association with Iyappa Seva Sangam, and this is the ninth consecutive year the Apollo Hospitals is reaching out to Sabarimala pilgrims, says Rohini Sridhar, Director of Medical Services, Apollo Speciality Hospitals, Madurai.

Talking to reporters here on Wednesday, she said the seven-bedded unit would start working from November 16, for two months.

In the past eight years, the unit has treated nearly 1.5 lakh patients, including 35,000 in-patients, free of cost. A 15-member team of doctors, nurses and support staff will man the centre. An ambulance will also be deployed at Pamba.

“The free treatment to Sabarimala devotees is part of the hospital’s corporate social responsibility. Our chairman Pratap C. Reddy is very particular that there should be timely treatment for the pilgrims,” Dr. Rohini Sridhar said.

M. P. Balasundaram, Senior Administrator, Apollo Speciality Hospitals, Madurai, said the hospital planned to open one more free medical facility on the way to the temple, where devotees found it tough to trek.