Indian health minister tours New York hospital
SUMAN GUHA MOZUMDER
India’s Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad last week visit-
ed a New York hospital to see the American health-care
system in action.
He was in the United States to meet with his American
counterpart, Secretary of Health and Human Services
Kathleen Sebelius, and to keynote the annual American
Association of Physicians of Indian Origin conference in
Washington, DC. Azad spent three hours at the New York
Presbyterian Hospital, touring departments and meeting
senior officials, including Anthony Gotto, dean, Cornell
Medical School, which overseas the hospital.
“The minister visited some patients’ rooms and spoke to
some of the patients who granted him permission, and he
also visited the ambulatory care facilities,” said Dr
Dattatreyudu Nori, professor and executive vice chairman,
Radiation Oncology Department, New York Presbyterian
Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center. “He asked the dean
details of how the patient care works in the US and won-
dered how care in India could be improved. Azad also
inquired a lot about the length of stay in hospital after sur-
geries and how it is determined when to let the patient go.
I think he has a lot of plans to improve health-care delivery
in India, including strengthening 21 regional cancer cen-
ters to also have cancer research programs. The minister
also spoke about a very big plan to develop a major hospi-
tal in India that will serve the whole country and it will
have research and preventive care facilities.”
He added that Azad also inquired about Medicare and
Medicaid and wanted to know about the student-to-facul-
ty ratio in Cornell and other schools.
Community Republicans back Robert Ehrlich for Maryland governor
AZIZ HANIFFA
The Maryland chapter of the newly formed
Republican Indian Committee has
launched a Steering Committee to provide
policy advice and ideas to former governor
Robert Erhlich, Jr, who is challenging
Democratic incumbent Martin O’Malley,
who defeated him convincingly four years
ago.
Following its launch at a fundraiser for
Ehrlich, the steering committee members
pledged their full support and resources to
re-elect Ehrlich in November. The
fundraiser netted over $30,000 for
Ehrlich’s campaign, plus pledges for additional events.
The fundraiser was hosted at the home of
Sam Malhotra, CEO, Subsystem
Technologies, Inc, and chairman, RIC-MD.
Ehrlich spent over two hours discussing his
campaign and his plans for Maryland’s
future.
Malhotra said, “As a state delegate,
Congressman, and governor, Governor
Erhlich has been a friend to the communi-
ty.”
“His record includes opening a trade
office in Bangalore, which was shut down
by the current Democratic administration
in Maryland, and creating the Maryland
India Business Roundtable,” he said. “In
addition to this, he also appointed several
Indian Americans in his administration.”
Sebastian Kurian, an attorney with Miles
& Stockbridge, who is president, RIC-MD,
said, “This event has brought together a
real ‘who is who’ of Indian-American
Marylanders who will work with one
another and with Governor Ehrlich to
ignite Indian-American support for the
governor and ensure that we get a friend to
our community back in the governor’s
mansion in Annapolis (the State’s capital).”
From right to left: Dilip Paliath, Dr Aditya Chopra, Sebastian Kurian, Puneet Ahluwalia, Mammen Daniel, Sam Malhotra, Armeane Choksi, Sue Ghosh, Governor Bob
Ehrlich, Sheela Murthy, Mukul M Mehta, Ajay Kuntamukkula, Raj Goel, Kabir Chaudhary, and Elisha Pulivarti at the fundraiser for Ehrlich at the home of Sam and
Bina Malhotra in Potomac, Maryland, June 1
Ehrlich in his remarks promised to make
Maryland more business-friendly if he is
re-elected, and said under the current
administration, the employer “is always
wrong with business regulators.”
He pledged that this “mindset will end
the first day I take office,” and said he would
examine regulations that “do not make
sense but only serve to burden businesses
and stifle their growth.”
Kurian told India Abroad they did not
ask the governor “specifically if he would
appoint Indian Americans to his adminis-
tration because we believe he will,” and
pointed out that in the room were three of
his former appointees, Dilip Paliath, who
was legislative officer to the then governor
Ehrlich, and also chief counsel in the gover-
nor’s office for crime control and preven-
tion; Elisha Pulivarti, who was executive
director of the governor’s commission on
Asian and Pacific Islander affairs; and Ajay
Kuntamukkala, who was commissioner on
the governor’s commission on Asian and
Pacific Islander affairs.
