Sri Visveswarar Medical College Hospital, Trichy Bypass Road, Sriram Nagar, Kottaiyur

All my people know that I seldom have anything good to say about allopathy hospitals and doctors. But here I am complimenting straight from my heart the above hospital and its physician, Dr.Kaveri, M.D.

Let me start from the beginning. First let me remove the misconception - There is no medical college as the name suggests. To my knowledge, it has been so for more than 20 years now. It is easily the biggest hospital, say, in about 50 km radius, with many latest gadgets. Somehow from the beginning it did not attract many patients. Poor management? Honestly I don’t know. Now this hospital management has been taken over by ‘Mata Amirthanandamayi Trust’.

Now the highlights:

· It has a well-qualified and well-experienced physician, viz., Dr.Kaveri, M.D. This soft-spoken and kind lady attends on patients sympathetically. Her diagnosis is good. She does not unnecessarily prescribe unwanted laboratory tests. Whatever medicine she prescribes is generally minimal and cheap.
· The consultation fee is Rs.10/- for, hold your breath, for a month. You may have any number of consultations during this time and you don’t have to pay anything except the initial Rs.10/-.
· There is absolutely no crowd. So you don’t become tense. You relax yourself and get the treatment.
· All charges are nominal – ECG, Scan, X-ray, various lab tests etc are carried out on concessional fee.
· At two places, they have parked vehicles which you can use for going to the hospital, WITHOUT PAYING ANYTHING.

Now, to the painful thing, still there is no crowd. You never see more than two or three patients. I have seen patients thronging many private hospitals, restlessly waiting for hours for their turn. Why don’t they use this hospital? God alone knows! They publicize through local TV channels. On their vehicles, you see banners highlighting the benefits. Yet, painfully, the hospital is, to put it mildly, under-utilized.

Medicine is no longer a service or a profession. It has grown into big business these days. So when you see institutions like Sri Visveswarar Medical College Hospital, you are very much moved and your cynicism is checked a little bit.

I have always been an admirer of Mata Amirthanandamayi. There are many educational institutions, including some of the best institutions of higher-learning, hospitals and many other service facilities run under benevolent guidance.

I touch the Holy-Feet of ‘Mataji’ and pray that the innumerable service activities carried out under her benevolent guidance grow and continue to benefit humanity. My grateful thanks to the local ‘Mata Amirthanandamayi Trust’ who dedicatedly run this hospital.