HISTORY : Avvai Rural Medical Service was started in 1943 in Pappanchavadi, near Adayar, Chennai by the well known social worker late Dr.T.S.Soundram. In 1947 it was shifted to Chinnalapatti where it started functioning as Kasturba Maternity Home.In 1952 it had a capacity of 22 beds

Kasturba Hospital was shifted from Chinnalapatti to its present premises in the year 1957. The main building was inaugurated with 100 beds on 24.12.1962. This hospital which was started as a Maternity and Child Welfare Centre has now grown into a well equipped General Hospital to meet the health needs of men, women and children. Now the bed strength of the hospital is 300.

Deliveriesconductedfrom1947 to 2010-94,181 Tubectomies performed from 1961 to 2010-2,10,790

To organize village sanitation and health and medical and maternity services in villages and to train workers for the same is one of the objectives of Gandhigram Trust.

OBJECTIVES :

ACTIVITIES :

Gives medical care to the rural poor.
Provides timely maternity and child health services.
Implements all methods of Family Welfare.
Trains Multi-purpose Health Workers (Female) and Health Assistants.
Renders Community Health Services to nearby villages.
Fits artificial lower limbs below knee and above knee (Jaipur Foot).
Gives away either surrendered or abandoned children in adoption to deserving childless couples.
Provides Geriatric Care for the needy people.

MOTHER AND CHILD CARE :

Kasturba Hospital provides a wide spectrum of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Paediatric services. The Labour Room is well equipped to attend to three deliveries at a time and has all facilities for intensive fetal and maternal monitoring.Number of deliveries conducted in the hospital has been increasing over the years. The chart given below shows this increase.

The hospital has an excellent infrastructure for the care of newborns.A well equipped modern neonatal intensive care ward which was started in 1984 provides advanced care to newborn babies and has all the facilities to manage premature babies and critically ill babies.When the newborn is premature and sick a good medical and nursing care round the clock is given. Every Thursday immunization of children is done as part of paediatric services.

The hospital gives utmost care to newborns and takes all efforts to reduce the Neonatal Mortality Rate.

Kasturba Hospital is a referral hospital for high risk obstetric cases and premature and sick newborns for effective management. Complicated maternity cases are referred to this hospital for safe confinement.More and more premature and sick babies are referred to this hospital from the nearby villages and also the nearby town Dindigul.The Paediatric Ward takes care of the children of the rural poor and also looks after the abandoned children. The hospital considers Mother and Child Health services as a big social responsibility.

FAMILY WELFARE SERVICES :

Kasturba Hospital is a Government recognised Family Welfare Centre and a large number of mothers come to this hospital for tubectomy operation from far and near. About 3,000 sterilisations are performed every year and about 1,000 mothers undergo Medical Termination of Pregnancy every year. Kasturba Hospital renders good medical and nursing services, provides suitable accommodation, gives diet which rural patients like, encourages mothers to bring their childrenwith them as they are relieved of the anxiety about their children during their stay and if there is a need, necessary treatment is given to their children and provides an environment, convenient to rural mothers and these things make many rural mothers choose this hospital for sterilisation surgery. Recanalisation surgery is also a main part of the family welfare services. A woman accepts sterilisation after having one or two children but sometimes she looses one or both the children after some years.If she wishes, she can bear a child after recanalisation surgery.Hence the need for recanalisation surgery becomes necessary.The recanalisation surgery to both women and men is done in the hospital and the success rate is estimated around 60%.Sterility investigation forms part of the family welfare services. Infertile couples are properly counselled and diagnostic and therapeutic services are offered to them.By utilising these services many infertile couples are blessed with children after treatment. Kasturba Hospital won the National Award twice and the State Award fourteen times for the good work done in the field of Family Welfare.

National Award		State Award
1970-1971	1987-1988	1989-1990	1995- 1996
1971-1972	1988-1989	1990-1991	1996- 1997
1983-1984		1991-1992	1997-1998
1985-1986		1992-1993	1999- 2000
1986-1987		1994- 1995

GERIATRIC CARE :

Geriatric Ward of Kasturba Hospital caters to medical problems of old age people and makes them all feel at home.

NATURE CURE AND YOGA :

Treatments for various disorders and diseases like diabetes, asthma, coronary, arthritis, infertility, migraine, mental stress, etc. are available at the Nature Cure and Yoga Research Centre of Kasturba Hospital.Also different kinds of therapies (like hydro, mud, magneto), acupuncture, acupressure, yoga and dietary counselling are available at the Centre.

BLOOD BANK :

Blood transfusions become very essential in obstetric emergencies. Surgical patients also need blood transfusions even when the surgeriesare planned.Severe anaemic patients and accident patients require emergency blood transfusions. To save many lives a blood bank is essentially needed in a hospital. To meet these demands a blood bank has been set up in the hospital with required equipments.

TELEMEDICINE :

Telemedicine, a recent advance in medical field is practised at the hospital. The Telemedicine Centre of the hospital has got connected to Narayana Hirudayalaya, Bangalore, Cancer Institute, Adayar, Chennai and Apollo Hospitals for providing urban treatment facilities to the rural patients.

INTENSIVE CARE UNIT : Excellent inpatient facilities are available in the Intensive Care Unit which has four beds to treat patients with heart problems at any time. A Ventilator has been newly added to save critical patients.

ARAVIND EYE VISION CENTRE :

Aravind Eye Vision Centre at Kasturba Hospital is to help the rural people with eye problems. It is very helpful to number of villages around and is being used by all. Simple eye problems are diagnosed and treated. Eye check-up is done at the centre and glasses are supplied from the centre. Preliminary investigations are done at the centre and Ophthalmologists of Aravind Eye Hospital are consulted through video conferencing. Patients are referred to Aravind Eye Hospital for surgery and other complications, fixing appointments through the centre. Doctors from Aravind Eye Hospital visit the centre once in a month and the work of the centre goes on well.

ADOPTION:

Adoption is the best option for those who have no chance of begetting their own.Adoption is one of the social welfare programmes of the hospital which is one of the recognised institutions of Government of Tamil Nadu to do In-country Child Adoption. Children either surrendered or abandoned are given away in adoption to deserving childless couples who are sure of not getting a child on their own due to various reasons. The adoptive mothers stay in the hospital for some days to know how to care for the baby.The adoptive couples are instructed to bring the baby to the hospital once a month for check-up.If the hospital is satisfied about the upbringing, then steps are taken to legalise the adoption.It is very nice to see that the adoptive child brings happiness in the family of childless couple and the abandoned child also finds a family.189 children are well placed through the adoption programme of the hospital upto the year 2010.

ARTIFICIAL LIMB RESEARCH CENTER :

Dr. R. G. Kumble of DST on a visit to Gandhigram, suggested that Kasturba Hospital with its facilities and workshop should consider starting an Artificial Limb Research Centre at Gandhigram under the guidance of the famous Dr. P. K. Sethi – the inventor of the Jaipur Foot. This suggestion brought to light a dire need for a low cost and local need based artificial foot in the rural society. On being contacted Dr. Sethi with his wife reached Gandhigram within the next 2 days and said that he too has been looking for a place in Southern India for manufacturing the Jaipur foot. Sri. M. R. Rajagopalan, Dr. Kousalya Devi and Mr. Michael (Mechanic) went to Jaipur and they were very impressed with Dr. Sethi’s sacred and sentimental commitment to the programme. Mr. Michael spent three months learning every detail of the Jaipur foot piece, fitting an artificial limb, communication with the beneficiaries and satisfying their needs. Dr. Kausalya Devi too spent time at Jaipur to understand the way the Jaipur foot was administered. While considering the rubber required to produce the artificial feet, the TVS rubber factory at Madurai entered the scene. The TVS family to which Dr. Soundaram (the founder of Gandhigram) belonged to, was always forthcoming to be associated with Gandhigram’s work and immediately agreed to provide superior quality rubber for the artificial feet manufacturing and also provide technical manpower help.

Salient features of ALRC Centre Demystification of Technology: Making or a Prosthesis (artificial limb) is generally considered as high technology. The product is also high priced and the poor and lower middle class amputees cannot afford them. The ALRC in Gandhigram has broken this myth and is producing the artificial limb selling at a price affordable by the poor. A model that is Indian and versatile: Till Jaipur foot was introduced in 1970, only western model of limb was available in India. These were designed for a western lifestyle – sitting on a chair, using a western closet, etc. which hardly anybody in rural India had. The new design developed by Dr. P. K. Sethi takes into account not only the functional demands of the floor sitting, barefoot walking culture of the majority of our population but it also added new dimensions a much more flexible foot piece, with more freedom of movements than is currently available in an prosthetic foot anywhere in the world. The fact that it has a cosmetic appeal of resembling a natural foot and is resistant to water as well as the rugged terrain of our countryside, is an additional benefit. Help resume normal life: Gandhigram ALRC insists that the person with the artificial feet resume normal life as just with the original feet, hence patients treated here today are part of the regular society performing their functions, the patients include: doctors, lawyers, office managers, clerks, labourers, traders, army men, artisans, etc. They started manufacturing in 1988 based on the Jaipur model. The rubber supplied from TVS is far superior to even the original Jaipur model.

Total rehabilitation programme is provided by the ALU with a well provided for training centre in which the patient can train with the new limbs. It takes approximately between 10 days to a month for people to get trained with their new feet. The success rate of people fitted with limbs from here has been 90 – 95%. On an average 15 – 20 people are treated each month. Most of the patients are from the districts of Madurai, Dindigul, Theni, Trichy, Ramnad, Sivagangai, and Munnar districts of Kerala. 60% of those who come for treatment are referred by earlier patients and increasingly even doctors now have started to recommend patients to this centre. Innovation includes: 1. Knee-joint mechanism with sys-lock of the knee joint, this was a major development from the regular method used for knee-lock which was using callipers. The callipers needed the person using them to periodically lock-un-lock. 2. ‘Sym’s foot’ for sym’s amputation people using the Jaipur foot technology is another innovation of Gandhigram 3. Currently, orthopaedic appliances for polio patients are being developed and tried out. 4. Different die is used to cast the feet of people of different ages and different background (width). The cost of the Gandhigram produced feet (below knee joint) is Rs.1000/- With above knee joint also Rs. 2000/- A artificial limb fitted here would be good for anywhere between 5 – 6 years. Artificial limbs from this centre have also been exported to Bangladesh and Mozambique.

ICTC PROGRAMME :

Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) programme is implemented in Kasturba Hospital according to the action plan of Tamil Nadu State Aids Control Society (TANSACS). ICTC of the hospital has been selected for the first place at the district level for the best performance in TANSACS for the year 2010.

HEALTH EDUCATION :

Kasturba Hospital gives importance to Health Education. Every day bedside Health Education is given to patients. Health Education is given to village people during village visits.Every Tuesday a community prayer is organised followed by health education to patients and their attenders.In that prayer cum health education meeting they are free to say and ask anything and their questions are answered and their doubts are clarified.

COUNSELLING : In Kasturba Hospital counselling is given to those who are in need of it. It delivers effective, systematic and scientific counselling to problematic individual and family so as to facilitate them to lead a smooth and happy life.

TRAINING PROGRAMMES :

Kasturba Hospital trains Multi -“Purpose Health Workers (Female) and Health Assistants and gives short term training to students from other institutions. The main aim of the Multi Purpose Health Worker training is to ensure that the community health services required are carried out. The services under Primary Health Care are best carried out by the Multi Purpose Health Workers.

No. Of Students Trained Upto 2010
Clinical Assistant (Female)	22
Auxiliary Nurse Midwife	370
Multi Purpose Health worker (Female)	1228
Arogya Sevika	317
Health Assistant	15
Female Nursing Assistant	32
Lab. Technician (Female)	33

OUT – PATIENT DEPARTMENT :

Out Patient Department of Kasturba Hospital functions from 8.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. All the emergencies are attended to round the clock.

OPERATION THEATRE:The Operation Theatre of Kasturba Hospital is well equipped.In addition to the large number of Family Welfare operations, General Surgeries, Caesarean and Gynaecological Operations are also done.

SUPPORTIVE SERVICES : Kasturba Hospital has a well equipped X-Ray Unit, a Laboratory and a Blood Bank. It has a Scanner (Colour Doppler System) to render diagnostic services to the rural poor.

VILLAGE ACTIVITIES :

Kasturba Hospital runs three creches in three villages. Community health services are rendered to nearby villages. A large number of rural people are benefited by these village services. MoU between Kasturba Hospital and Apollo Hospitals is to give world class health care to the rural poor. The main aspect is to conduct monthly health camps in villages around Gandhigram with a van equipped with diagnostic equipments to achieve integrated rural development.

Twenty three rural health camps were conducted up to the year 2010. Let the achievements registered by the hospital continue for achieving health for all.