Bayat Foundation Inaugurates New Pediatric Critical Care Facility At Indira Gandhi Hospital In Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bayat Foundation, led by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ehsanollah Bayat, recently inaugurated a new pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) and critical care unit (CCU) at Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul. The facility, rebuilt atop the debris of an unused, ruined section of the building in less than five months, features advanced remote patient monitoring technology, modern beds and medical equipment, and a variety of additional solutions focused on enabling acute care for children.

"We are grateful to have the opportunity to aid the committed medical staff and young children of Afghanistan by constructing this modern pediatric care unit," Mr. Bayat said. "Through our long support of young leukemia patients at Indira Gandhi Hospital, we realized the significant difference that new ICU/CCU facilities could play in allowing doctors to serve many more of the neediest and most at-risk children, more effectively than before. The Foundation looks forward to remaining engaged with hospitals around the nation to help ensure the next generation of Afghans begin life as safely and well as possible, and we believe this new pediatric facility will provide improved healthcare results for many of the neediest children in Afghanistan."

The new critical care unit is the twelfth health care facility that the Bayat Foundation has constructed around the nation since beginning a mission in 2005 to build a network of maternal and early childhood hospitals in underserved and underdeveloped areas of Afghanistan whose main focus is maternal wellbeing, child health, and safe births.

This network of medical care facilities for Afghan mothers and children - located in Mazar-e-Sharif (Balkh Province), Dai Kundi (Uruzgan Province), Maimana (Faryab Province), Behsood (Wardak Province); Tagaab Village (Wardak Province); Hessa Dowom (Wardak Province); Tora Bora (Nangahar Province), Sar-e Pul City (Sar-e Pul Province), Lashkargah (Helmand Province), and Gardez (Paktia Province)- has served more than 700,000 patients since the inception of the Foundation's maternal/child health initiative. The hospitalsrange in size from 10 to 150 beds and are built to a modern design, with complete electrical systems, patient rooms, operating rooms, delivery rooms, post-operative recovery rooms, a pharmacy, doctor's offices, reception area, storage and bathrooms. Further information and video coverage of the new ICU/CCU facilities, as well as all Bayat Foundation health care initiatives and other programs may be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/user/BayatFoundation/videos.

About the Bayat Foundation

Since 2005, the US-based Bayat Foundation, a 501 c(3) charitable organization, has promoted the well-being of the Afghan people. Founded and directed by Ehsan Bayat and Fatema Bayat, the Foundation has contributed to more than 200 projects dedicated to improving the quality of life for the youth, women, poor, and elderly of Afghanistan. Projects have included the construction of new facilities and sustainable infrastructure in needy regions, and the promotion of health, education, economic, and cultural programs. In addition to his charitable initiatives, Ehsanollah Bayat founded Afghan Wireless (AWCC) in 2002 - a joint venture between Telephone Systems International, Inc. (TSI) and the Ministry of Communications - which was the first GSM wireless and Internet Service Provider in Afghanistan, and later established Ariana Radio and Television Network (ATN), which includes Ariana Radio (FM 93.5). For more information, please email info@bayatfoundation.org( mailto:info@bayatfoundation.org ).

CONTACT: Jill Ketron, j.ketron@bayatfoundation.org( mailto:j.ketron@bayatfoundation.org ), +1-904-686-1470

SOURCE Bayat Foundation