The New Jersey State Chapter of AAPI organized its first annual convention/gala on November 9th at at the Double Tree Hilton, Newark, NJ celebrating their achievements and contributions with over 300 delegates in attendance from across the state of New Jersey.
Prominent among those who had attended the event included Dr. Seema Arora, Chair of the Board of Trustees of national AAPI; Dr. Ravi Kolli, Secreatary of national AAPI. Dr. Raj Bhayani, Treasurer of national AAPI; Dr. Hemant Patel, Dr. Ajay Lodha, and Dr. Gautam Samadder, past presidents of national AAPI; Dr. Satish Kathula, Editor of AAPI E-Newsletter; Dr. Durgesh Mankikar, Chair of the AAPI-NJ Board of Trustees; Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, advisor to AAPI-NJ and past president of the Federation of AAPI-NYNJCT, Dr. Krishan Kumar and Dr. Jagdish Gupta, leaders of the New York Chapter of AAPI.
In his welcome address, Dr. Binod Sinha. President of NJ Chapter, outlined the mission of the chapter and explained all the activities performed in last one year and gave vision for future. “Having over 500 Physicians of Indian Origin in the state of New Jersey, my goal is to bring all Chapters/members together and to create a totally new forum and platform, with the objective of bringing in the young generation to AAPI as they are the future of AAPI, involving them at different levels, mentoring them and to get them interested and developing their passion.”
In March this year, AAPI-NJ raised more than $50,000 at a fundraiser for the families of the soldiers killed in the Pulwama terror attack in Kashmir on Feb. 14. The N.J. chapter also raised thousands for Kerala flood relief victims.
As for the future plans for the Chapter, Dr. Sinha spelt out that with his organizing committee, the Chapter will organize CMEs on a regular basis, social events, health care events, local community work and charity work. “We have to work together so this Chapter earns the expected credibility and recognition by being transparent, open and very democratic. We need to get involved with the NJ state health department to help taking care of patients with no insurance and ensure that our members are at the State Board of Medical Examiners, get involved in local community by providing health education, prevention, screening for mental illness and counselling for chemical abuse. My vision is to make this chapter one of the best and the biggest Chapters of national AAPI in the United States,” he added.
Dr, Seema Arora thanked Dr. Sinha and the Chapter for the great work done within one year and felicitated Team with appreciation plaques from national AAPI. Dr. Raj Bhayani, convention chair of events, welcomed the delegates. In his inaugural address, he emphasized making this chapter stronger by uniting Indian Doctors in the state and serve the community.
Dr. Hemant Patel spoke of the educational activities planned for the coming months, as it was critical to keep physicians up-to-date with latest technologies and procedures in health care. He also spoke of connecting Indian-American physicians with lawmakers in order to influence health policy. Dr. Pooja Patel, treasurer of AAPI-NJ spoke of being focused on bringing in more younger physicians into the organization.
“I would like this new chapter, AAPI-NJ to flourish and get to the level of the Federation, to help physicians, advocate for them and carry forward the legislative agenda,” Dr. Parikh said in his message to members of the New Chapter. The convention also featured a dance performance and a music concert by Bhaven Shastri.
The core committee of NJ state AAAPI Chapter consists of Dr. Jayendra Patel, Dr. Hetal Gor, Dr. Sanket Ruparelia, Dr Prakash Paragi , Dr Jayesh Kanuga , Dr. Preeti Saran, and Dr. Sarawanan who had worked very hard to make this event successful.
NJ STATE AAPI is thankful to its platinum sponsors Prior to IPO, Bhatt Foundation, Integrity practice solutions, Accurate Diagnostics lab, HCI Inc., Alliance oncology whose generous support is very much appreciated.
Founded by Dr. Raj Bhayani, Dr. Binod Sinha, Dr. Hemant Patel and Dr. Kishore Ratkalkar, the New Jersey Chapter of AAPI aims to bring together Indian physicians to serve the patients with the highest quality healthcare and take steps to help patients without insurance with the necessary service, the organization says on its website.
