Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz India on Wednesday announced it will set up a temporary hospital in association with local authorities, with 1,500-bed isolation wards and all medical facilities for coronavirus patients at Mhalunge-Ingale village, Chakan, in Pune. The facility will come up in Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) housing area, newly built with 374 rooms. It will be accessible to patients from Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad. Mercedes-Benz India will assist the zila parishad authorities with all the necessary infrastructure, including medical equipment, required to create a temporary OPD. It will provide stretchers, wheel chairs, PPE kits and sanitisers.
Martin Schwenk, MD and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, said in these challenging times the company was trying hard to support the local community and assist the local authorities. “The new medical facility will help support the local authorities and the people of the region with healthcare in the coming times, if the situation worsens,” Schwenk said. This measure by the company will also benefit the community after the closure of the temporary facility there, he said.
Mercedes-Benz India will also provide logistics support for the project. After easing of the Covid-19 crisis, the facility will close down and the medical equipment will be donated to the Civil Hospital of Khed. Also, its other assets will be given to tribal youth hostels run by government authorities, Schwenk said.
In addition, the Mercedes-Benz India employees will voluntarily contribute one day’s salary, the amount of which will be matched by the company towards contribution to the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the pandemic. Mercedes-Benz India said it would also support 1,600 daily wage workers and BPL families from Khed and Viman Nagar area (a locality in Pune near the airport).and provide them dry ration and cleaning kits.
The company has also directly supported the Grant Medical Foundation, which runs the Ruby Hall Clinic, a network of hospitals across Pune, by donating ventilators. Mercedes-Benz India has both its manufacturing facility and corporate office situated in Chakan industrial belt in Pune.
