The three medical institutions in the town of Darjeeling were the Eden Sanitarium for Europeans, the Lowis Jubilee Sanitarium for the locals, and the Victoria Memorial Dispensary for the locals as well as the Europeans.
The Eden Sanitarium was named after Sir Ashley Eden, a British diplomat and the then Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, who urged the necessity of providing a recovery home for European patients from tea gardens of the district as well as for those from the plains. The Eden Sanitarium was opened in 1883, and was the only institution in Bengal, where Europeans requiring treatment in a cool climate (after sickness in the plains), could obtain the accommodation, care and attention they required. It was then a semi charitable institution, as besides some free cots maintained by subscriptions, four free beds maintained for the benefit of the patients from the Medical College, and Presidency General Hospitals, Calcutta. Poor Europeans and Eurasians were admitted on payment of Rs. 3 a day, but this did not include the cost of maintenance, which included diet, medical attendance and medicines. The entire maintenance cost of Eden Sanitarium was Rs. 40,000 per year, and the annual number of admission varied from 450 to 500. In 1905, the number of operations conducted in the Sanitarium was over 60.
The Lowis Jubilee Sanitarium (now Luis Jubilee Complex) was opened in 1887. It was named after Mr Lowis, the then Commissioner of the Rajshahi Division (now in Bangladesh), and was intended to commemorate the Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Maharaja Gobind Lal Roy of Rangpur, offered a donation of Rs. 90,000 for some work of public utility. It was decided, to utilize this sum, for the benefit of Indians, who had no home in the hills, to which they could resort, and the then Maharaja of Cooch Behar, provided the site. The sanitarium was divided into two departments, the Hindu department for orthodox Hindus, and the general department for those who had no caste prejudices. The number of admissions per year was around 650. It contained 99 beds, of which 8 were reserved for females, and 13 were free. The annual maintenance cost was around Rs. 25,000.
The Victoria Memorial Dispensary is the Darjeeling Municipal hospital. The main building had 45 beds. Also attached to the main building was a cottage hospital, as well as an infectious diseases hospital, and an operating room. In 1905, more than 10,000 patients were treated, and no less than 389 operations were performed.
There were others too in the interiors of the district, and these were also charitable dispensaries. In 1905, about 4,000 patients were treated at Kurseong, and the number reached as high as 15,000 at Kalimpong. At Pedong, the number of out-patients (these are patients, who attends a hospital for treatment, but do not stay there overnight. Out-patient is opposite to in-patient) were 6,000 per year. At Pankhabari, an average of 2,300 were treated per year.
There were dispensaries at Siliguri, Baghdogra, Kharibari, Naksalbari, Phansidewa, and Sombari Hat. The dispensary at Siliguri treated both in-patients, and out-patients. The number of people varied from 4,000 per year at Siliguri, Baghdogra, and Phansidewa to 2,500 at Naxalbari and Kharibari, and about 2,000 at Sombari Hat. Along with these institutions, an itinerant civil hospital assistant, traveled among the Tarai villages and visited these different hats on market days.
The Church of Scotland also had an admirable contribution to these dispensaries. Charter’s Hospital at Kalimpong, was aided by the State, but maintained and managed by the Mission. The hospital contained 26 beds, and a medical missionary was in charge of the hospital and was aided by two lady nurses. The same Mission, i.e, the Church of Scotland, maintained a dispensary at Nimbong, in the Kalimpong subdivision. The mission gave medical relief to over 17,000 patients annually. To the west of the river Tista, the Mission maintained a dispensary at Kizom, a village in the Karmi estate of the late Raja Tenduk Palzor, at which 1,200 people were treated annually. A small independent medical mission was working at Sukhiapokhri, and it was reported that over 10,000 people were treated annually by the missionaries, either at the dispensary or on tour.
By,
S. K. Ghising
References
- L. S. S. O’Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers 1907, pg no 58 – 60.
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