World second oldest hospital belonging to Chennai is sensational
Posted on: 21/Nov/2019 9:41:20 AM
Chennai residents would have been familiar with an eye hospital situated in the busy Egmore. This hospital is now 200 years old and is the second oldest in the world and next only to the Moorfield Eye Hospital of the UK. Established in the year 1819, this Egmore eye hospital is associated with Government General Hospital and MMC of Chennai is known.
It is now revealed that medical students from TN would be brought to the century-old Elliot’s school and museum at this government ophthalmic hospital. Health Minister, Mr. C. Vijayabaskar inaugurated the bicentennial building plus the renovated museum and he spoke about how the medical students visiting the Egmore ophthalmic hospital would know about the rich medical heritage of TN.
The medicos visiting the museum would be surprised to see the patient case sheets, prescriptions, treatment plans, disease descriptions and the equipment used by the doctors in the past.
In July in the year 1819, East India Company established the Madras Eye Infirmary and it was built on the lines of Eye Infirmary in London. After some time, it was moved to a bigger space in Egmore and again in the year 1884 it was further shifted to the present campus under then-superintendent Lt Col E.F. Drake Brodeman is known. It was renamed as a government ophthalmic hospital four years later.
It must be noted that when Lt Col R.H. Elliott took over as superintendent he laid down plans to upgrade apparatus used and sourced material for teaching ophthalmology.
Point is by the year 1919 that was a century after the establishment of the hospital, the construction of the school of ophthalmology was completed. The school was inaugurated in the name of former superintendent Mr. Elliott.
It was brought out by the health minister that the renovated museum would be useful for medical students. He threw light on the modern 3D wet lab and how learning in the lab would provide the medicos with a feeling of operating on the real eye.
An amount of Rs 66 crores has been spent on building the modern hospital and it would be opened for the people soon. The health minister finally hinted about how the government has been keen on improving the facilities at all public hospitals. It is superb to mention here that a specialty block is being constructed in the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and tower 3 blocks would be inaugurated.
