Well on the way to self-sufficiency
Maya Dass Shiv Dass Rotary Eye Hospital
Kullu, Himachal Pradesh State
As a small hospital catering
to a large and widely dispersed population, Maya Dass Shiv Dass Rotary Eye
Hospital is making the transition from charitable recipient to self-sufficiency.
It became an Operation Eyesight partner in 2004.
In addition to the typical
budgetary and trained staff challenges, the hospital's location was also a
barrier to providing care to area residents. Located in the mountainous border
region with China, it was difficult to secure a permanent ophthalmologist and
its outreach program was limited to a few months of the year because of the
region's harsh winter weather.
Yet great potential was
envisioned for the hospital, one of the few eye care centres in the region. To
help realize the hospital's possibilities, Operation Eyesight enlisted the
consulting services of Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital. This collaboration
extended the outreach services, enhanced revenue generation and served more
non-paying patients. A vision centre in the city's centre means patients find
it much easier to access services. The centre provides screening and referrals
for further treatment.
With Operation Eyesight
support, Shroff's purchased a phaco machine and provided training to the
phaco surgeon at Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital. With equipment and a surgeon in
place, the most common and advanced cataract surgery can be performed while
generating significant revenue for the hospital.
In 2011, to better serve
area residents, Operation Eyesight and Maya
Dass began a four-year hospital-based community eye health program to serve the
100,000 people of Anni and Nirmand Tehsil divisions. The program will bring eye
health care to communities and help integrate primary eye care into primary
health care.
Blindness is prevalent in
Anni and Nirmand Tehsil due to a number of factors including poor eye
health-seeking behaviour, vitamin A deficiency, lack of access to clean
water, poor personal hygiene and environmental sanitation and low rates of
immunization. The project’s goal is to create a sustainable, community-based
model that will prevent and treat avoidable blindness.
Thanks to the generosity of donors, Maya Dass is well on the way to
self-sufficiency. It will be a lasting legacy of Operation Eyesight’s vision to
create self-financing services with our partners.