COVID-19 Relief for India
When the second wave struck India in 2021, AAPI physicians answered. Members raised more than $5 million to send oxygen, ventilators and diagnostic equipment to hospitals caring for patients who could not afford care.
The crisis
India ran out of oxygen
In April and May 2021, COVID-19's second wave overwhelmed India's hospitals. Medical oxygen ran short, ICU beds filled, and makeshift wards opened in community halls.
AAPI members — many with family and friends in India — responded within days. Their donations paid for equipment that went straight to government and non-profit hospitals, where patients were treated at no cost.
What AAPI delivered
Oxygen, ventilators and diagnostics
2,200+ oxygen concentrators
Concentrators went to government and non-profit facilities in about 22 states, including makeshift COVID centers and rural and urban shelters.
- 1,000 distributed with Sewa International, flown to India free of charge by UPS
- 1,230 distributed through the Indian Red Cross Society volunteer network
100 ventilators and 100 high-flow oxygen machines
Ventilators and high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) machines were installed in 48 hospitals across 18 states — from Sikkim and Mizoram to Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Every installation was verified before final payment.
In 2022, AAPI added 8 neonatal ventilators: six for hospitals in Chhattisgarh, one for Wayanad, Kerala, and one for Guwahati, Assam.
Oxygen plants
With Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani hospitals, which give free care to children, AAPI co-sponsored PSA oxygen plants in Kharghar (Navi Mumbai) and Palwal (Haryana). The Kharghar plant went live on November 26, 2021.
7 high-throughput analyzers
Beckman Coulter CLIA analyzers run 200 tests an hour — ferritin, D-dimer, IL-6 and other COVID markers — at AIIMS Bibinagar, Gorakhpur, Jodhpur, New Delhi and Mangalagiri, Stanley Medical College in Chennai, and ESI Hospital in Kolkata.
Critical care for rural hospitals
An ICU central monitoring system for Srimad Rajchandra hospitals in Dharampur, South Gujarat, and biochemistry analyzers for Sadbhavna Trust hospitals in Kalsar and Vadli, Gujarat — all serving rural patients free of cost.
On the ground
Ventilators installed across India
Our approach
Where the need was greatest
Only government or non-profit
Every recipient was a government or charitable hospital serving COVID patients, many free of charge.
Scored for impact
Requests were scored on a five-point scale for the terrain served and how much poor and underserved patients would benefit.
Approved and verified
Each class of equipment was approved by AAPI's Executive Committee and Board of Trustees, and installations were confirmed before final payment.
Hospitals reached
See where your donations went
Turn equipment types on and off, then pick a state or a dot to see what each hospital received.
Prefer a list? Show all hospitals by state
Andhra Pradesh — Mary Lott Lyles Hospital, Madanapalle · Government General Hospital, Kakinada · General Hospital, Kurnool · Sanjeevini Hospital, Kuchipudi · SVRR Government General Hospital, Tirupati · Guntur General Hospital
Assam — Marwari Hospital, Guwahati
Bihar — Mahavir Arogya Sansthan, Patna · Sadar Hospital, Aurangabad
Chhattisgarh — Christian Fellowship Hospital, Rajnandgaon
Gujarat — Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad · Dharam Sinh Memorial Hospital, Nadiad
Himachal Pradesh — Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital, Shimla · Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda · Dr. Radhakrishnan Medical College, Hamirpur · Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar Medical College, Nahan · Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College, Mandi · Jawaharlal Nehru Government Medical College, Chamba
Karnataka — SDA Medical Center, Bengaluru · District Hospital, Chikmagalur · Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru
Kerala — EMS Memorial Charitable Trust, Perinthalmanna · Amala Cancer Hospital Society, Thrissur
Madhya Pradesh — Padhar Hospital, Betul
Maharashtra — B.J. Government Medical College / Sassoon Hospital, Pune · Sai Foundation, Latur · Holy Spirit Hospital, Mumbai · Nimai Hospitals, Aurangabad
Mizoram — Zoram Medical College, Falkawn
Odisha — District Headquarter Hospital, Jharsuguda
Rajasthan — RMM Global Trauma Hospital, Mount Abu
Sikkim — New STNM Hospital, Gangtok
Tamil Nadu — Thanjavur Medical College Hospital · Coimbatore Medical College Hospital · Christian Medical College, Vellore
Telangana — Government Hospital, Medak · Yagna Foundation Hospital, Vikarabad · AIIMS Bibinagar · Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad
Uttar Pradesh — BHU Hospital, Varanasi · GSVM Medical College / Civil Hospital, Kanpur · King George's Medical University, Lucknow
West Bengal — Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata · Bharat Sevashram Sangha Hospital, Joka · Belur Sramajibi Hospital, Belur
Partners
Delivered together
AAPI worked with trusted partners on the ground to move equipment quickly and safely to where it was needed.
A lasting legacy
At the request of a major donor, part of the COVID fund became the AAPI Disaster Relief Fund, overseen by the Board of Trustees, so AAPI can respond quickly to the next crisis.
Thank you, AAPI members
This program was made possible entirely by the generosity of AAPI physicians. Their service continues through new initiatives every year.