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GAPI Atlanta Regional Meeting
showcases education,
philanthropy, entrepreneurship, political activism &
humanitarianism
Georgia Association of Physicians of Indian Heritage (GAPI) held
its Atlanta regional meeting on December 13th at the Impact Hall
in Global Mall, which was well received by more than 100
attendees. The occasion was graced by the chief guest Mr.
Srinivasan, India’s Commercial and Political Affairs Consul for
the Southeast USA, Dr. Manoj Shah, President of Medical
Association Georgia (MAG), and many other notable community
healthcare leaders. The meeting agenda was unique with a wide
range of topical topics from education, philanthropy,
entrepreneurship to financial management .
GAPI board meeting was presided by GAPI President Dr
Indrakrishnan and attended by past presidents, Board of
trustees & Board of directors which included Drs Manoj Shah,
Yogesh Joshi, Arvind Gupta, Sudha Tata, PB Rao, Dilip Patel , Sudhakar
Jonnagalada,& Tarun Gosh. Dr Joshi presented a proposal on the
management of Endowment Trust Fund for trustees' consideration.
Membership drive & planning of the annual convention for 2015
were also discussed in detail. A Membership drive
committee chaired by Dr Sudha Tata consisting of board of
Directors was proposed & approved. Dr. Indran Indrakrishnan,
President of GAPI, in his welcome speech congratulated Dr. Manoj
Shah for becoming the first president of Indian Origin of
Medical Association of Georgia. He further apprised the audience
of GAPI’s educational, philanthropic, humanitarian, political,
entertaining and social activities in the last eight months in
Atlanta and other regions of Georgia. A beautiful & illustrative
slide show was presented on GAPI’s past events, including the
health fair inaugurated by Governor Nathan Deal, Augusta
Regional meeting, participation at the Indian Health minister
Hon. Harsh Vardhan’s reception, attendance at Indian Prime
minister Mr. Narendra Modhi’s NY reception, Diwali function at
BAPS temple with the chief guest Senator Mike Dugan, Beauty and
the Beast musical dance drama production –fund raising event -
graced by the chief Guest Senator David Shafer, and GAPI
leadership at the Indian Ambassador for USA & Hon. S.
Jaishankar’s Atlanta reception. He briefed the members about
more regional meetings in the upcoming months next year in the
various regions of Georgia with annual convention being in April
2015.
Chief guest Mr. R. Srinivasan spoke about the current status of
the Indian healthcare industry, which has registered a
double-digit
 growth in the last few years, the trends, and the
available areas of opportunity for investments in India. He
highlighted on medical tourism, cost comparisons, success rate
of surgeries and the professional competence of the healthcare
industry in India. He assured the availability of his good
offices and the Consulate for facilitation of investments in
India.
Dr Manoj Shah, the current MAG President & a past GAPI
president, began his keynote address by thanking GAPI president
Dr. Indrakrishnan for his strategic leadership in transforming
GAPI to a more active & vibrant organization with community
leaders participation. He informed the audience that, 7200
members strong, MAG is a leading advocacy organization that will
prioritize its work on physician autonomy, transparency in the
healthcare insurance, and medical malpractice tort reform and
increase the healthcare access in underserved areas.
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Dr Aneesh Mehta, Dr Jay Varkey, Dr
Indrakrishnanand , Dr Sudha Tata |
Emory University School of medicine star physicians Drs. Jay
Varkey and Aneesh Mehta gave a elaborate lecture about their
experience in care of four patients with Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)
at Emory University Hospital. Dr. Jay Varkey, the first
physician to care for a patient with Ebola in the US, started
the presentation with an overview of Ebola and a summary of the
clinical management of these patients. Dr. Aneesh Mehta
continued the discussion by explaining the protocols put in
place to protect the patients, staff, the public with high-level
containment and monitoring methods, and how these were taught
and communicated. This very educational and entertaining
presentation was followed by a humanitarian work-related talk by
Dr. Deepa Ranganathan, a chief mentor & board member of MD
Junior, a student run 501(c)3 non-profit whose mission is to
"Inspire Selfless Service through Mentorship". MDJunior, founded
by a ninth grader Shaun Verma, has expanded to 31 Chapters
across the World, impacting several thousands. Recognized by the
White House, Jefferson Awards and several others, the
Organization brings together passionate Healthcare Professionals
and students who have a strong desire to reach their full
potential, by establishing Chapters in different schools and
colleges, for Local and Global initiatives. MDJunior’s Global
Medical Mentor Mission to Honduras has been described as a "Life
Changing Experience." Dr. Deepa Ranganathan emphasized that
students, parents, healthcare professionals and educators with
the desire to selflessly serve can join and be a part of
MDJunior and give back to the community.
Vijay Patel from Merrill Lynch gave brief presentation on
retirement planning for physicians. He spoke about yearend
planning and maximizing savings for retirement. He discussed
using “after-tax” savings in a 401k to save more into the 401k.
In addition, he spoke about using non-deductable IRA for
additional retirement savings. As many people make yearend
donations to charities, he went into the advantage and
disadvantage of making donation directly out of an IRA and using
donor advised funds.
As part of the continuing philanthropic activities related to
health care, GAPI Board of trustees recently voted unanimously
to donate money Lydia House, a nonprofit organization in Augusta
caring for women with cancer and BAPS Health fair of Swami
Narayan Temple in Lilburn, GA. As the concluding event of this
regional meeting, Dr Bipin Chudgar, the founder of Lydia House
received the check for $4000.00 and Mr. Sanjay Pandiya & Mr.
Jayanthibhai Patel received the check for $4000.00 behalf of
BAPS Health fair. Drs Sreeni Gangasani & Yogesh Joshi presented
the checks on behalf of GAPI board of trustees.
Dr Naresh Parikh , past GAPI president & present AAPI Treasurer
in his speech complimented Dr Indrakrishnan for his hard work &
dedication since he became a president early this year. He
thanked Dr Indrakrishnan for elevating GAPI’s esteem and status
to a much higher status than it was before. Dr Parikh briefed
the attendees about the concerted efforts to confirm the
nomination of Dr Vivek Moorthy as the first US surgeon general
of Indian origin.
Dr Indrakrishnan thanked the Chief Guest, speakers, volunteers,
sponsors & all the attendees for making the 2014 Atlanta
Regional meeting a successful & memorable one.
The meeting ended with sumptuous dinner catered by Ashiana
Restaurant.
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