ANAND, GUJARAT

The Hospital

Gujarat is home to more than half a million visually challenged people. Thus, a 225-bed Sankara Eye Hospital was constructed on 5.5-acre land on Ahmedabad-Vadodara Highway (NH8) to provide free eye care to the needy.

Inauguration

The Honorable Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr. Naredra Modi, in the presence of Sankaracharya of Kachi, inaugurated the hospital on October 19th, 2008. In a very short time, the hospital established itself as a premier eye care hospital in the area and has received accolades from the state of Gujarat. The out-reach program serves the districts of Ahmedabad, Anand, Bharuch, Kheda and Vadodara and an average 28,700 people are screened and over 10,000 free eye surgeries are performed each year since inauguration.

Vision Care Technicians

Girls from economically challenged families were selected from surrounding villages to undergo intensive training at Coimbatore, under the guidance of Dr. Radha Ramani for university recognized Vision Care Technicians courses along with coaching in spoken English. For the training, no tuition was levied but they all received a stipend every month with free accommodation at the Mission Head Quarters in Coimbatore. We have successfully created career opportunities to many young people from the surrounding villages. Similarly, the doctors and administration staff are also identified from Gujarat and are given initial training at MHQ before getting posted at the Anand hospital.

Please check out the making of the Hospital Project Report 2009