Egmore Eye Hospital

Last updated

Regional Institute of Ophthalmology and Government Ophthalmic Hospital
Former names
Madras Eye Infirmary
TypePublic institution
Established1819 (1819)
Location, ,
13°04′13″N80°15′39″E / 13.070313°N 80.260735°E / 13.070313; 80.260735 Coordinates: 13°04′13″N80°15′39″E / 13.070313°N 80.260735°E / 13.070313; 80.260735
Campus Metropolitan
Website riogohchennai.in

The Egmore Eye Hospital, officially the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology and Government Ophthalmic Hospital, is a public eye hospital in Chennai, India. Considered the oldest eye hospital in Asia, the institute was established in 1819 [1] and is the second oldest hospital of its kind, next only to the Moorfields Eye Hospital in the United Kingdom. [2] [3]

Contents

The hospital is associated with the prestigious Government General Hospital and Madras Medical College, Chennai and is affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University.

History

The hospital was originally founded in the neighbourhood of Royapettah (on the grounds of the present-day Wesley Church) in 1819 as the Madras Eye Infirmary (MEI). [4] The first to initiate the idea of a hospital was Dr. Travers, a surgeon in London with the East India Company, and in July 1819 Dr. Robert Richardson, another surgeon, came to Madras to establish the hospital. [3] Modelled on Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, the hospital expanded under the leadership of Drake Brodeman from 1873. [4] Although established in Royapettah, by 1820, the hospital was shifted to Egmore, where it occupied a tram shed until 1884, when the hospital was shifted to the present-day location, where it became known as the Government Ophthalmic Hospital from 1886. [2] [3] A couple of buildings were built in the premises. [3] A black plaque outside the hospital premises reads: "Government Infirmary for gratuitous treatment of diseases of the eye." [3]

Between 1904 and 1913, the hospital expanded under the superintendency of Lieutenant Colonel R. H. Elliot, who is credited for the Elliot's Trephine, an instrument used in glaucoma surgery. It was during his tenure that the Lawley Ward, a building that was declared a heritage building by the Archaeological Department of India, was built at the centre of the premises. [3]

The Elliot School of Ophthalmology, the first in South India, was established in the hospital in 1919 by Elliot's successor Lieutenant Colonel Kirkpatric. [3] [4] In 1921, the Elliot Ophthalmic Museum was opened by Kirkpatric's successor Lieutenant Colonel R. E. Wright. [4] Both of these were named after R. H. Elliot. [4] The museum's holdings include an 1829 painting of an affected eye, sketches of tropical eye diseases by earlier practitioners, several 19th-century specimens of affected eyes and case registers (dating back to 1819), and centuries-old medical instruments. [3] [4] In 1940, K. Koman Nayar was appointed the hospital first Indian superintendent, who is remembered for building the Iris Repositor at the hospital. [4] In 1942, the medical school started offering a post-graduate diploma program in ophthalmology. [3] In 1948, India's first eye bank was opened here by the then superintendent R. E. S. Muthayya. [4] With its opening, the hospital had an entire block dedicated for eye bank. [3] It is believed that Muthayya was the first to perform a keratoplasty. [3]

In 1960, an old garden house opposite the old campus was obtained to build its nurses' quarters. [5] In 1962, the School of Optometry started functioning inside the campus. [3]

The hospital began to employ microscopes for surgeries when E. T. Selvam first used one. [3] The hospital became a Regional Institute in 1985 under the National Programme for Control of Blindness. [3] The Government of India recognized the hospital as a centre of excellence following which government ophthalmologists from all over the country arrive at the hospital to undergo training. [3]

Description

With support from the Lions Club of Chennai District 324 A (an organized and separate eye bank that co-ordinates with the doctors, paramedical team and community support) workers ensure a 24-hour eye donation and eye banking service.

Training programmes offered include short-term exam-oriented training for diploma in National Board Exams.

Courses offered

See also

Citations

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ophthalmology</span> Field of medicine treating eye disorders

Ophthalmology is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley Medical College</span> Medical college hospital in Chennai, India

Stanley Medical College (SMC) is a government medical college with hospitals located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Though the original hospital is more than 200 years old, the medical college was formally established on 2 July 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madras Medical College</span> Medical school and hospital in Chennai, India

Madras Medical College (MMC) is a public medical college located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established on 2 February 1835, it is the second oldest medical college in India, established after Calcutta Medical College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sankara Nethralaya</span> Hospital in Chennai, Kolkata

Sankara Nethralaya is a not-for-profit missionary institution for ophthalmic care headquartered in Chennai, India. In the name "Sankara Nethralaya", "Sankara" is a reference to Adi Shankaracharya and "Nethralaya" means "The Temple of the Eye". Sankara Nethralaya receives patients from India and abroad. Sankara Nethralaya has over 1000 employees and serves around 1500 patients per day, performing over 100 surgeries per day. The annual revenue as per the taxes is close to US$100 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram</span> Medical school in Thiruvananthapuram, India

The Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram is in Thiruvananthapuram, India. Founded in 1951, it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and is Kerala's first ever Medical College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Eye and Ear Infirmary</span> Hospital in New York, United States

New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (NYEE) is located at East 14th Street and Second Avenue in lower Manhattan, New York City. Founded on August 14, 1820, NYEE is America's first specialty hospital and one of the most prominent in the fields of ophthalmology and otolaryngology in the world, providing primary inpatient and outpatient care in those specialties. Previously affiliated with New York Medical College, as of 2013 it is affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai as a part of the membership in the Mount Sinai Health System.

Little Flower Hospital & Research Centre is a 610-bed multi-specialty hospital in the town of Angamaly, Eranakulam District, about 25 kilometres north of Kochi, situated at the junction of the Main Central Road of Kerala with the National Highway 47. The hospital is run by the Major Archdiocese of Ernakulam -Angamaly of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. It offers a number of specialties including Cardiology, General Surgery, Orthopaedics & Trauma, Plastic & Microvascular Surgery, Neurosurgery, Urology, Eye, ENT, General Medicine and its allied specialties, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Paediatrics etc. The hospital is a regional referral unit for Ophthalmology, trauma and General Surgery.

Thomas Moore-Lane was born in Co. Wexford, Ireland and was son of Robert Moore-Lane of Lansboro, and Emily Gordon. His surname has also been recorded as Moore Lane.

Sengamedu Srinivasa Badrinath is the Indian founder and chairman emeritus of Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, one of India's largest charitable eye hospitals. He is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences. He received the Padma Bhushan, third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India in 1996. He also received many other awards, including Padma Shri and Dr. B. C. Roy Award.

Monegar Choultry is a choultry in the city of Chennai, India. It is considered to be the first organised charity in Madras city.

This is a timeline of major events in the history of Chennai.

Chennai, with historically rich records dating at least from the time of the Pallavas, houses 2,467 heritage buildings within its metropolitan area (CMA), the highest within any Metropolitan Area limit in India. Most of these buildings are around 200 years old and older. Some of them are Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Ripon Building, Senate House, Bharat Insurance Building, and so forth. Chennai is home to the second largest collection of heritage buildings in the country, after Kolkata. The official list of heritage buildings was compiled by the Justice E. Padmanabhan committee. The Tamil Nadu Assembly passed the Heritage Commission Act in 2012 to preserve old heritage structures.

Government Royapettah Hospital is a major state-owned hospital situated in Royapettah in Chennai, India. The hospital with 712 beds is funded and managed by the state government of Tamil Nadu. It was founded in 1911 and is attached to Directorate of Medical Education. It is the city's largest peripheral hospital, and its limit extends up to Chengalpattu.

Professor Robert Henry Elliot FRCS was a British ophthalmic surgeon and author, an expert on snake venom and on Indian magic.

Keiki R. Mehta, an Indian ophthalmologist, medical researcher and writer, is considered by many as the father of Phacoemulsification in India. He is the Chief Surgical and Medical Director at Mehta International Eye Institute, a Mumbai-based specialty eye hospital founded by him. He is known to be the first surgeon to perform a Radial keratotomy in India and is credited with the development of the first soft eye implant in the world, and the Keiki Mehta BP Valve Glaucoma Shunt, a medical implant used in the treatment of neovascular‚ congenital and uveitic glaucoma. He is a recipient of several honours including the Grand Honors Award of the National Eye Research Foundation, Chicago and the Triple Ribbon Award of the American Society for Cataract and Refractive Surgery. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for his contributions to Medicine.

Sir John Herbert Parsons CBE FRS FRCS was a British ophthalmologist and ophthalmic surgeon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sundaram Natarajan</span> Indian ophthalmologist (born 1957)

Sundaram Natarajan is an Indian ophthalmologist. In 2002, he started a free clinic in Dharavi, a slum in Mumbai, and treated more than 8,000 people. He has also held free camps in various other suburbs of Mumbai such as Mankhurd and Govandi to treat the economically poor. In 2016, he also held a camp in Kashmir to operate and cure the victims of pellet gun firings.

Royapettah Neighbourhood, in Chennai district, in Tamil Nadu State, in India.

Royapettah is a neighbourhood of Chennai, India.

Sir Stephen James Hamilton Miller, KCVO, GCStJ, FRCS (1915–1996) was a Scottish ophthalmic surgeon. He was Surgeon-Oculist to the Queen from 1974 to 1980.

References