Catholic Health Association of India’s director reappointed

Secunderabad: Father Mathew Abraham, director-general of the Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI), has been reappointed to his current post.

The current term of the present CHAI Director-General, Father Abraham, a Redemptorist priest, is due to end in April 2021.

Based on the officially prescribed internal processes, the CHAI National Board has extended the tenure of the incumbent for the second term of five years till April 30, 2026, said Sister Victoria Narisetti, president of CHAI.

The National Board has expressed that they are pleased with the services of the priest over the duration of his tenure and his Vision for CHAI and the Catholic healthcare network, said Sister Narisetti, a member of Jesus, Mary and Joseph congregation.

She thanked the Redemptorist Congregation and Father Edward Raju Joseph, provincial superior of Bangalore Province, who have graciously offered the services for Father Abraham for one more term.

The extension was announced during the 77th Annual General Body Meeting conducted on October 13.

The participants felicitated him and invoked the abundant blessings of God on Father Mathew, a physician by profession, as he continues to give leadership for the healthcare mission in India, said Sister Narisetti.

CHAI is the premier healthcare organization of the Catholic Church in India.

It has 3,520 member institutions — 1,409 dispensaries, 913 health centers, and 928 hospitals – with more than 50,000 beds. It also has 210 disability rehabilitation centers, and 90 holistic care centers for PLHIV (persons living with HIV).

Nuns, who work as doctors, nurses, or social workers, head as many as 92 percent of CHAI members. Nearly 84 percent of them serve in medically underserved areas.

CHAI has 11 regional units in India. Its members provide medical care to more than 21 million people in a year – with a team of 1,000 Sister-Doctors; 25,000 Sister-Nurses; 10,000 plus Sister-paraprofessionals.

It also has around 40,000 nuns and priests, who are social workers, and a huge number of lay employees.

Sister Mary Glowrey, an Australian and a member of the JMJ, founded CHAI in 1943. Over the past 78 years, it has grown into the world’s largest health care organization in the voluntary sector.

She came to Guntur, a town in southern India, in 1920 with a new vision and a definite mission. She founded the association with 15 sisters to provide curative care to people, especially to the poor, women and children.

Sister Glowrey, who died in Bangalore from cancer on May 5, 1957, at 69 years of age, is a Servant of God, the first stage in the canonization process.

During the first 14 years, nuns managed CHAI. As the association grew in strength, its vision got broadened. Promoting community health, CHAI began to see health as a basic human right.