This Bengaluru Doctor Treats Covid Patients Out Of His Mahindra Verito Mobile Clinic

He works at a Covid hospital at night and drives to homes of the poor and elderly patients during the day

Dr. Sunil Hebbi deserves all the applause that we can muster right now. 

After his 12-hour shift at Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Covid centre, he takes a two-hour nap, then dons his mask and grabs the keys to his Mahindra Verito which he’s turned into a mobile clinic. Then, at 10am every day, he sets off to provide care and medicines to people who might need urgent medical intervention. 

This idea of a car-turned-clinic came about in January 2020 when Dr. Hebbi had undertaken the Health Yatra, a journey to provide primary care and health check-ups to underserved people in remote villages. For this purpose, he had bought a used Mahindra Verito and filled the boot and backseat with medical equipment and supplies. 

Don’t be deceived by the Verito’s appearance. Space and practicality were always the high points of this now discontinued Mahindra sedan, and Hebbi made full use of it. This mobile clinic is packed to the gills with medical equipment. To help during the pandemic, it even has an ECG machine and oxygen concentrator on board! 

Dr. Hebbi’s Mahindra Verito is the diesel version powered by a 1.5-litre oil burner rated at 65PS and 160Nm. He says his nine-year-old car can still return a mileage of 10-11kmpl. Currently, the Renault Logan-derived Mahindra e-Verito exists as an all-electric sedan. Perhaps that could be an eco-friendly replacement for his ageing car. However, when we enquired about his favourite, the doctor -- a fan of Anand Mahindra's philosophy -- said he loves the XUV500. 

A Force Motors Tempo Traveller minibus is on the horizon. He’s even found a volunteer who’s willing to equip the vehicle with solar panels to power the oxygen concentrators and other machinery! You can donate to the doctor’s cause at his crowdfunding page.

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Today, his motivation to fight the coronavirus comes from personal loss. His aim is to prevent as many casualties as he can. Just the other day, he responded to a desperate call from an elderly couple who had tested positive for Covid-19. He rushed to them at night, only to find that they needed psychological support, not medical intervention. 

If you need help, you can reach Dr. Hebbi through WhatsApp on his numbers 6363832491 and 9741958428. Since he’s inundated with calls while running on little sleep, he plans his appointments carefully. The priority is to get to the poorest and senior citizens first, irrespective of whether they have tested positive for Covid-19. Patients can share their health status and medical history with him on WhatsApp, and he gets back with advice on the phone or in person.