SWAASTHYA HOSPITAL - Bringing Critical Care to Remote Doorsteps

The Satsang Swasthya Kendra, a tribal healthcare facility in Madanapalle, Chittoor District (Madanapalle Mandal, Nakkalaladinne Thanda, Ponnuitipalyam Village), Andhra Pradesh has been catering to 12,000 outpatients annually including students and staff of schools as well as the local Tribal settlements since 2013.

The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed deep underlying problems in the health care system. It has disproportionately impacted India’s rural population due to lack of access to critical healthcare facilities and equipment in their vicinity. India’s rural population has low/no insurance coverage and the ability to afford these services in the cities has reduced significantly.

Following a thorough examination of the increasing need for specialised and affordable treatments, the necessity for a hospital that provides both emergency and comprehensive services has become critical in Madanapalle. As a result, the vision for the much-needed SWAASTHYA HOSPITAL was born.

We aspire to “provide holistic, affordable, quality, healthcare, with a goal of establishing a self-sustaining model while creating employment and training opportunities for the local tribal people”.

The vision is to bring state of the art, comprehensive health care to the doorstep of rural communities in and around Madanapalle.

The proposed hospital facility is envisioned to be a 45-bed hospital (additional ER beds ~50 beds in total) Phase I and expansion to 100 beds and addition of higher specialities. Spread across 950 sq. mts, the hospital will provide basic and specialist medical services.

The medical specialities will include General Medicine, General Surgery, Orthopaedics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Dentistry, Ophthalmology, ENT, and Dermatology. 24/7 Emergency services are added feature. The goal is to provide emergency treatment within the “Golden Hour” for medical, surgical and obstetric emergencies. Timely intervention and stabilisation are game-changer in saving lives especially in road accidents and trauma.

Accordingly, the following set of services have been planned for in the facility, including but not limited to: 

• Emergency and Basic Trauma Care
• 5 Consultation Rooms, 2 Operation theatres and 6 bed ICU
• 1 Laboratory for state of the art Diagnostic services - include clinical Pathology and Haematology, Clinical Biochemistry, Clinical Microbiology, Clinical Radiology and Imaging - CT-Scan, X-Ray, Ultrasound; ECG, ECHO, etc
• Pharmacy - inhouse facility
• Telemedicine services
• Medical Transport facility : 2 state-of-the-art Ambulances, with all the advanced life support systems, to ensure safe medical transportation - first of it's kind in Madanapalle
• Community-based Health Social Outreach Programs

The hospital is envisaged to be non-profit making facility and 50% of the services will be charitable.

Along with the medical services that the hospital will provide, it will also offer these outreach activities to the community

1. Medical Screening Camps – to allow for early diagnosis and to understand prevalence of health issues in the community
2. Need-based Camps that provide education and support for the problem discovered during the screening camps
3. School Health Monitoring – including interactive sessions between pediatricians and parents on nutrition and health
4. Developing socially active youth by providing them with basic training in fields like CPR and first aid
5. Awareness Campaigns on cleanliness, sanitation and personal hygiene, particularly for women.

With all the health care facilities, there will be compounding health benefits in reducing death rates and disability from the road accident victims, reducing the complications in case of other emergencies, reduction in birth defects, foetal mortality as well as maternal mortality. By implementing such timely interventions rapid recovery with better functionality is the utmost benefit.

Having these facilities will enable us to :

• Provide affordable, quality health care for the rural population
• Create a replicable, self-sustaining model of person-centric care
• Create healthcare employment and training opportunities for local tribal settlements
• Provide a platform for people from all walks of life to “volunteer and serve”
• Improve accountability and communication amongst all the stakeholders: The Government, Non-Government Organizations, and the Private Sector.
• Provide care that goes beyond just physical treatment - Holistic healing, preventive and rehabilitative services.

The extension of an affordable, quality health care will impact not only the day today lives of the 6000 families in the nearby 10 villages but also will be a source of better living and livelihood.