Critical patients now have oxygen 24/7

Gabriel Project Mumbai (GPM) celebrated Indian Republic Day by hosting a handover ceremony at the Mokhada Rural Hospital for a brand-new Oxygen Plant.  The Oxygen Plant, manufactured in India, was funded through a partnership with Gabriel Project Mumbai, IsraAID and UJA Federation of New York.  Originally installed in July 2021 to treat critical COVID-19 cases during the devastating ‘second wave,’ the facility will now be available to the community. “During COVID and beyond the pandemic, we will be able to give highly concentrated oxygen to those patients critically in need of oxygen for their treatment,” said Dr. Mahesh Patil, Medical Superintendent of the Mokhada Rural Government District Hospital. 

Ribbon cut by Member of State Parliament, Honorable Shri. Sunil Bhusara and Deputy Collector Mrs Ayushi Singh

Palghar District health authorities and government officials attended the handover ceremony. Member of State Parliament, Honorable Shri. Sunil Bhusara thanked Gabriel Project and IsraAID for their critical support during the COVID pandemic- " This Oxygen plant has saved many lives, helping people who are most in need during one of the most critical periods of time,” said Shri. Bhusara. “Thank you to Gabriel Project.”  

Also in attendance was Dr. Sanjay Bodhade, District Civil Surgeon, Shri. Dilip Gutte, Assistant Collector, Smt. Ayushi Singh, Deputy Collector, Dr. Rajendra Kelkar, Assistant District Civil Surgeon, local media and GPM staff.

Member of State Parliament, Honorable Shri. Sunil Bhusara

GPM opens a medical center in tribal district of Mokhada

Today Gabriel Project Mumbai opens the doors of the Mokhada Community Health Center (Mokhada Aarogya Seva Kendra) in the Mokhada tribal district of Palghar, Maharashtra.

Mokhada Community Health Center / Mokhada Aarogya Seva Kendra

Four years ago, Gabriel Project Mumbai (GPM) began working in the tribal district of Mokhada, just a 4 hours’ drive from the slums of Kalwa. We expanded to this remote rural area as the 59 villages there were experiencing extreme poverty with severe child malnutrition, starvation and with little access to any healthcare! With 40% migration from villages in Maharashtra to Mumbai, many of the residents of Mokhada had migrated to the slums in Mumbai and Thane in a last move of desperation in the face of extreme poverty.

We set up food distributions, nutrition programs and emergency health treatments. 

While we know that the food distributions helped significantly with hunger, we quickly began to realize that nutritional needs are just the beginning. We kept seeing sick, unhealthy people with no access to any kind of medical professionals, which meant that emergency medical needs, communicable diseases, and treatable conditions like dysentery were causing high rates of illness and death. It also meant that people with chronic illnesses or noncommunicable diseases, like high blood pressure or diabetes, had no chance of getting better or controlling their symptoms. After countless discussions and research in the region, we decided to open a Healthcare Center located in the heart of the Mokhada district. It is a vital component in advancing a long-term vision for health and hygiene for the members of the community. 

With Israel Consul General, Mr Kobbi Shoshani outside the Mokhada Community Healthcare Center

The beautiful five-room medical center we built on a 1.5-acre central location in Mokhada is a vibrant center for health in the district. One room houses a diagnostic center for blood testing and vaccinations (sponsored by the Minkus family of Chicago and UJA Fed of New York) while another room contains an emergency dental clinic sponsored by the estate of Martha B Leigh). The other consulting rooms lead to a large hall used for patients and for after-hours training of medical staff. The medical center has been visited by the Deputy Collector of Palghar, Ms Ayoushi Singh and we are partnering with the Dr. Vasantrao Pawar Medical College in Nashik for ongoing medical programs at the medical center. Recently, we completed a large-scale oral health screening with the Indian Dental Association and a menstrual hygiene project with the Citizens Association for Child Rights (CACR) including a distribution of sanitary pads to 3200 adolescent girls. The medical center also works closely with government health bodies like the Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS), Mokhada Rural Hospital and the Nutrition Rehabilitation Center (NRC).