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HISTORY
Nestled among the teak forests and gently rolling hills along National Highway 69 between New Delhi in the north and Chennai (Madras) in the south, is the village of Padhar. Situated in rural Central India (Madhya Pradesh), about 170 km from Bhopal, the village got its name more than 120 years ago from the Swedish “Padre” (missionary Pastor) who miraculously healed the local chief’s son, presumably suffering from Malaria. This area is part of a belt of dense jungles, and there were frequent injuries resulting from encounters with wild animals that required treatment. This contributed to a lack of medical facilities, given its isolated location. This led to the establishment of a small dispensary that eventually grew into the present 200-bed Hospital.
Padhar Hospital is a charitable, multispecialty hospital affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Madhya Pradesh. Catering mainly to local tribal communities, including the Gonds, Korku, and Gawalis, the hospital has earned a reputation for dedicated service. It now attracts patients from neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh as well.
Clement Moss arrived in India (Maharashtra) in 1939 as a missionary with a small British Baptist Mission Society and served in Achalpur. During World War II, he joined the Swedish Evangelical Society in Madhya Pradesh and worked among the Gond tribes, based in Kondar, Chicholi. He met and married Ingegerd Warsson, a Swedish missionary who was working in Sagar at the time, and Clement Moss was accepted as a full-time missionary of the Swedish Mission. They both continued to be based in Chicholi and developed a small bush hospital there, together with a small church. During this time, he was also ordained as a priest in the Evangelical Lutheran Church. However, Clement felt that he needed a more profound understanding of medicine to serve the people even more and left to study medicine at the Brown Memorial Medical College in Ludhiana. Having completed his studies, he and his family came to Padhar in 1958, after a brief home leave and a period of work in Khurai.
Dr. Moss became the pastor-in-charge. He immediately began to expand the services of the small existing dispensary, installing electricity (initially with an old, donated generator) and running water, and gradually adding buildings to house patients, an X-Ray machine and an Operating Theatre. In those early days, his only support was his wife, but gradually other staff began to join him in the medical work. The first doctor to join him was Dr. Abraham.
Dr. Moss’s vision was always to serve the Gonds, the tribal peoples living around Padhar, whose language he spoke well. He had already translated the Gospels of St. John and Mark into Gondi, and with help from Pastor CP Singh and others, he later completed the translation of the New Testament and Psalms.
As the demand for the services grew, the need for a purpose-built larger hospital became clear. Eventually, the Lutheran World Federation gave a substantial grant towards the building of the new hospital across the road. It was opened in 1970. A short while before that, in 1969, Dr. Arvind Victor Choudhrie and his wife Bindu joined the staff. Victor had completed his orthopaedic studies and achieved the FRCS in the UK before returning to India. He focused on developing the hospital's surgical services.
In 1975, Dr. A. V. Choudhrie became the second medical superintendent of Padhar Hospital, which he developed into a multidisciplinary Centre. Due to the high incidence of malnutrition, blindness, and tetanus, he focused his attention on addressing the community's basic needs.
Dr. Moss, in the meantime, became the Superintendent of all the medical work of the ELC in MP and travelled to the different hospitals to supervise their work. He had already begun to develop a School and Rehabilitation Centre for the Blind, and, due to a severe water shortage and associated illnesses, had also initiated a well-drilling project based in Betul, utilizing a deep-well drilling rig obtained with support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). He and his wife retired to the UK in 1980, where he set up and developed the Friends of Padhar Hospital UK. They continued to support the hospital for many years until he died in 1996.
In the same year, Dr. Moss’s eldest daughter, Veronica, who had qualified as a doctor in 1970, came to Padhar to establish the Community Health and Development Project and serve as assistant medical superintendent for two years.
In 1986, Dr. A.V. Choudhrie became the Director of CMC Ludhiana, a big honour for a medical superintendent of a rural hospital. When he left, Dr Vincent Solomon, an orthopaedic surgeon who had joined the staff in 1978, became the next Medical Superintendent.
Under the able guidance of Dr. Vincent K. Solomon, who has served as Medical Superintendent since 1986, the hospital has undergone tremendous expansion. Dr. Solomon, an Orthopaedic Surgeon trained in CMC Ludhiana, has been working here since 1978. His many achievements include the introduction of Total Hip and Knee replacement surgeries, an Intensive Care Unit, a Dialysis Centre, and a Pain and Palliative Care Centre. Thanks to his unstinting efforts, Padhar Hospital is now a government-recognised institute for the treatment of Polio. He has been instrumental in constructing a dedicated Orthopaedic operation theatre and in procuring modern equipment to keep pace with modern medical technology. He is also credited with building manpower through various paramedical courses, not only for this hospital but also for the needs of other mission hospitals in India.
The hospital celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008, when Dr. Rajiv Choudhrie also became Medical Superintendent upon Dr. Solomon’s retirement.
Dr. R. Choudhrie’s focus is on cleft lip and palate surgeries. He is renowned for his surgical skills and his dedication to continually improving the hospital's operations. Dr. R. Choudhrie is promoting capacity building, making his team more powerful and well-trained. He promotes various medical projects and the introduction of high-end medical instrumentation in each department.
In the year 2008, Padhar Hospital celebrated its 50th anniversary. Today, it is a 200-bedded multispecialty hospital whose leaders are proud of their achievements. With our belief in God’s guidance, His love for all peoples, whether rich or poor, and excellent personnel, we make Padhar Hospital grow every day. With the kind support of our generous friends and charitable donors worldwide, we can do our best to serve the ill and underprivileged. For our future, we have developed numerous ideas for modernizing and improving our medical facilities to serve our patients on an even larger scale.
Now, from humble beginnings, the hospital has evolved into a hub of various community activities. We believe that with the blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ, this hospital.
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.For Further Inquiries: Medical Superintendent, P.O. - Padhar, District - Betul, Madhya Pradesh (460001), India.
Tel - (91) 9109542426, 9109543366, 9109542422, 9109542428.
Email: padharhospital@gmail.com
Website (new): https://www.padharhospital.org