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This is a new site under construction. The article
below gives some background about the hospital. This site will be
developing in the near future so please return if you are interested to find out
more.
Diptipur’s Christian hospital
Not long ago, a 47 year old mission hospital, started
in the middle of nowhere and sustained by visionary missionaries, experienced a
mid-life crisis. It had no doctors, no salaries and no patients. It
was time to shut the hospital.
But then someone takes a stand. Patients begin
coming back. The staff make sacrifices to keep things going. And
life begins again.
This is the story of Diptipur Christian Hospital.
Back in the 1950s, India was basking in its newly
acquired independence but parts of India’s western Orissa were far from free. Responding to this situation, the Baptist Missionary
Society in Bolangir decided to develop an ‘island of mission’ for the region -
providing health, educational and agricultural services.
The initial forays were undertaken by two missionaries
- the Revs Eric Payne and Franklin White. Many local Christian leaders,
including the Rev J K Mohanty, the Rev Dr Benjamin Pradhan, Rai Bahadur, Samuel
Das and the Rev Samuel Choudhary were also involved in the initial phase of
development.
Land was bought on the State Highway in the wilds of
rural western Orissa, 50km from the town of Bargarh and some 100km from
Sambalpur. The new village of Diptipur was born.
Mrs Payne and Mrs White, both trained nurses, along with a Mr Snehalal, started
clinic work there in 1955. In 1957, Dr Detweiler became the first
missionary doctor at Diptipur, while the Rev White supervised the construction
of the hospital buildings. However, in 1963, when Dr Detweiler returned to the
USA, the hospital had to close down.
Then, in 1965, Dr Sukant Singh - a native of Orissa -
joined the hospital staff, staying in Diptipur until 1968. In that year,
Dr Dalaganjan Suna came to the hospital as its medical superintendent. He developed an eye care centre and ran ‘eye camps’ in
the neighbouring districts and states. Electricity arrived in Diptipur in 1975. An X-ray
machine came in 1980.
However, when Dr Suna retired in 1996, there was no one
ready to take over. He decided that, if no organisational solution could
be found, the least he could do was to go and sit in the hospital and start
seeing patients. The electricity had been cut off and the telephone had been
disconnected but the 70 year old surgeon made his stand - and his point.
Thankfully, Dr V K Henry, supported by his wife, Nancy,
then took on the task of reviving the hospital. Word got around and patients started arriving.
The operation theatre was re-opened and some major surgery began to be done.
Neighbouring mission hospitals supplied skilled staff as required, and doctors
from Bissamcuttack came to provide short term work cover. A young doctor,
Supriya Sen, came to run the hospital, along with Dr Henry.
Mission partners in the USA agreed to help with some of
the outstanding bills. The seemingly impossible had happened: the hospital
had been revived. Seeing the efforts being put in to save the hospital,
the staff unanimously decided to forego 15 months of their unpaid salaries as
their contribution to the revival campaign.
By May 2004, a new leadership team was in place. Dr Rajnish Samal completed his studies in Vellore and joined the hospital as its
acting director. Another doctor from Vellore - Dr Deeptiman James -
arrived in March 2005. Friends in the USA donated money for an ultrasound
machine - and the hospital’s daily income grew to be enough to cover salaries
and repairs.
According to Dr Samal: “There is a great deal of
illiteracy and poverty in this region - and this area is prone to diseases such
as malaria, sickle cell disease, malnutrition and gastroenteritis. I hope that we can develop this into a multidisciplinary hospital, providing
high quality care to rich and poor alike without distinction. But, to do this,
we need your continuing prayers, help and support.”
Abridged from an article by Dr Rajnish Samal which was
published in the Christian Medical Journal of India, (Volume 20, No. 2, April -
June 2005).
 The
hospital staff pictured outside the hospital. |
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This site is sponsored by Marshalswick
Baptist Free Church as part of its commitment to ongoing mission in
God's world
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