from-cowshed-to-clinic-the-saga-of-a-nilgiris-hospital-times-of-india

9/11/2017

From cowshed to clinic, the saga of a Nilgiris hospital - Times of India

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From cowshed to clinic, the saga of a Nilgiris hospital TNN | Aug 31, 2017, 11.30 AM IST

UDHAGAMANDALAM: Residents of Nilgiris, who were deprived of specialty health care, are happy. The reason: the 75-year-old Kotagiri Medical Fellowship (KMF), a missionary trust run hospital near Kotagiri town, has been taken over by the Christian Medical College (CMC) and Hospital, Vellore, for administrative purposes. An MOU was signed by both the parties.

KMF, now a 50-bed facility, was started in 1941 by the American doctor Pauline Jeffrey, with a small band of faithful workers. Initially, a cowshed was transformed into a dispensary and it later grew into the hospital.

"KMF hospital was started as an eye hospital by Dr Jeffrey. Later it broadened its base as a general hospital with ophthalmic, dental and general wards," Rickyraj Johnston, secretary, KMF told TOI. He further said the MOU signed on Wednesday would facilitate CMC to administer KMF with better medical facilities in different areas.

Johnston said that CMC, known for the quality of its healthcare, would have its own plans to revive the present hospital, given the growth in the number of patients. He added, "Treatment is chargeable, but at a nominal cost. When it comes to service, it will be at par with the best."

L Ramesh, a resident of Kotagiri said, "It is really a boon to Nilgiris as CMC is entering the hill district which is lacking specialty medical care."

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9/11/2017

From cowshed to clinic, the saga of a Nilgiris hospital - Times of India

Stating that the story of Dr Jeffrey was an inspiring saga of sacrifice and service, Dharmalingam Venugopal, director of Nilgiri Documentation Centre (NDC) said, "Jeffrey found that the most common disease in India was related to the eye. So, she specialised in eye, ear, nose, and throat medicine and served thousands who sought her help".

Born in South India to missionary parents, Jeffrey began to work in a school in Madurai after getting her master's degree in 1917. But, after she saw the desperate need for trained physicians and medical teachers in India, she went back to America to study medicine, said Venugopal.

In 1926, she returned to India and joined Vellore Medical College, the only medical training centre for women in India then.

Jeffrey's unceasing work and physical exhaustion affected her health.

She suffered four bouts of tuberculosis in 1937, and was advised rest in America. Instead, she came to Kotagiri, where there was no modern medical care.

Unmindful of her own disease, she founded KMF and treated the patients herself, added Venugopal.

Dr Jeffrey died in Kotagiri in June 1974 at the age of 80 and was buried in the European cemetery in the area.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/from-cowshed-to-clinic-the-saga-of-a-nilgiris-hospital/articleshowprint/60303879.cms

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