India - Simla Base Hospital Project

Introduction
Situated in the heart of the Himalayas, in the Northern part of India, is a small, but beautiful state of Himachal Pradesh. In the vernacular language it translates to The Abode of Snow. And so it is. The capital of the state is Simla, often referred to as The Queen of Hills, and once the Summer Capital of India during The British Raj.

In the core of the town of Shimla is situated a 65 year old health care institute called The Simla Sanitarium & Hospital, providing quality ‘Patient Oriented Care’ to the patients.

Defining the Problem
The state of Himachal Pradesh nests a total population of 60,77,900 with the district Simla contributing a population of 7,22,502. The Female to Male Sex Ratio is 100:103. The town of Shimla has a 800 bed Medical School and Hospital owned and operated by the government. In addition it has another government run hospital, alongwith three private hospitals, besides a multitude of small clinics and Private Practitioners.

Among these, the only centre presently providing service in the field of Plastic Surgery and Urology is the government run medical school and hospital. But due to enormous general health care demand, this centre is unable to devote adequate time / resources in these sub specialties.

So not surprisingly, the fact that these departments have a backlog of about 2 years, forces the patients to travel out of the state in search of healthcare. The nearest place where such facilities are available is about 120 kilometers away and the cost of such procedures is huge.

Project Purpose
Recognizing this enormous unmet healthcare demand of the population, three years ago, Simla Sanitarium & Hospital started organizing an Annual Plastic Surgery camp in Simla, where Plastic Surgery procedures, mainly reconstructive, for Cleft Lip and Palate, and Burn Contractures, were done absolutely free of cost for the patients. Each year about 90 to 100 surgeries were performed during the one-week camp.

The Simla Sanitarium & Hospital now has a reputation in the field of Plastic Surgery, among the population here, that all through the year, enquiries for the next camp keep coming to the hospital regularly. Encouraged by this response, The Simla Sanitarium & Hospital organized a Urology Camp in the year 2006. For the first time in the history of healthcare in the state, TURP surgeries were performed alongwith other urology surgical procedures, free of cost for the patients.

The reaction of the population to this camp has been overwhelming too. The Simla Sanitarium & Hospital now plans to provide this care to the patients on a more frequent basis. The hospital envisions organizing a monthly Surgical Camp, alternating between the sub-specialties of Plastic Surgery and Urology. This will be a blessing to the local population because:

1. The incidence of Cleft Lip and Palate here is about 700 per 1000 live births. And there is no centre managing them in a consolidated way including lack of speech therapy
2. There is no burn centre in the whole state. Burn wounds are left neglected by people due to unavailability of a specialized centre, and gradually develops into disabling contractures in most cases.
3. In most places prostate surgery is done by the conventional open surgery, instead of the gold standard Trans Urethral Resection (TURP). There is only one centre offering Trans Urethral Resection of Prostate, and it being a Private Hospital, is not within the financial grasp of most people.
4. The Simla Sanitarium & Hospital plans to cater to the healthcare needs of not only the people of Shimla town, but of the adjoining rural and tribal areas with negligible health facility.

Implementation of the project and Sustainability
The Simla Sanitarium & Hospital envisions a monthly camp at the hospital in Shimla, alternating each month between Plastic Surgery and Urology. Presently Simla Sanitarium & Hospital does not have a regular Plastic Surgeon and Urologist. The President & CEO has tied up with Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, an old and reputed Super Specialty hospital about 200 km from Shimla, to send a team of Plastic Surgeons and Urologists to Shimla during the period of camp.

The visiting team will be training the local surgeons in the Plastic and Urological procedures, thus turning the present vision to an increasingly self-sufficient camp. The Simla Sanitarium & Hospital hopes to have trained their local surgeons adequately by the end of the year 2007, so that from the forthcoming year the camps can be conducted by the local personnel themselves.

To find out more please read the following documents -

• Simla Base Hospital Project - Proposal
• Simla Base Hospital Project - FAQs

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