One of India’s iconic institutions for eye-care, the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology and Government Ophthalmic Hospital in Egmore, Chennai, is the second oldest eye hospital in the world. As the city prepares to celebrate the Madras Week, from August 21 to 28, here is a look at the oldest eye hospital in India and Southeast Asia, also known as Egmore Eye Hospital. A centre of excellence, providing yeoman service, this hospital caters to around 700 patients streaming in from different parts of the country every day to seek relief from a variety of eye ailments. While one section consists of the heritage red-bricked buildings, another contemporary block lies across the road. Founded in 1819 to handle tropical eye diseases prevalent among soldiers and general public, it was earlier known as the Madras Eye Infirmary. It was modelled on the lines of London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital, which is considered the oldest in the world. It became the Government Ophthalmic Hospital in 1888, and was upgraded to Regional Ophthalmic Institute in 1987, after the National Programme for Control of Blindness recognised its stellar contributions in the eradication of preventable blindness.
A visit to the heritage wing of this hospital will take the visitors back in time. The sprawling campus dotted with trees, red brick structures, grand wooden staircases, covered walkways, long corridors and high ceilings are sure to leave the guests with nothing but nostalgia.
Two jewels in its crown are the Elliott School of Ophthalmology founded in 1919, and Elliott’s Museum established in 1921, named after Lt Col R H Elliott, who served as the hospital’s superintendent from 1904-1913. He also invented the Elliott’s Trephining Operation for Glaucoma. The virus, causing Madras eye, was discovered here by another superintendent named Lt Col H Kirk Patrik.
The Elliott’s Museum, which is a must-see, has a wide range of ophthalmic artefacts and archives. Inside the storehouse, there are slit lamps used during the early years, intra-ocular foreign bodies that were removed, books, records, case registers and picture-charts from the 19th and early 20th century of patients with various tropical eye diseases.
Following the British heads, the Indian doctors have blazed an equally glorious trail. Dr K Koman Nayar, the hospital’s first Indian superintendent, invented the Iris repositor used during cataract surgery. Dr R E S Muthayya, a skilled eye surgeon and pathologist of his times, set up the eye bank in 1948, after assuming office in the year 1947. He was also credited for performing India’s first corneal transplant.
Being a recognised centre of teaching and training, the institute offers master and diploma courses in Ophthalmology and Optometry. Thanks to the huge inflow of patients, medical professionals get to deal with a variety of cases, thereby garnering a wealth of knowledge. Equipped with state-of-the-art machines, challenging cases that are not treated elsewhere find succour and hope here. For instance, an auto driver who reported a superficial injury to his eyelid. Dr Waheeda Nazir, present director and superintendent of the hospital, says, “The wound was sutured. After a CT scan, it was found that the foreign body (which was a shard of glass that was subsequently removed) had migrated beyond the site of injury and got lodged near the temple. It turned out that during a head-on collision with another vehicle, the autorickshaw’s windshield shattered and pierced into the driver’s eye. That way, the 24x7 casualty at our hospital is a boon to patients seeking emergency eyecare. The eye bank, which is supported by the Lions Club of Chennai, too offers round the clock eye donation and eye banking services.”
Dispelling the myth that only poor patients knock on its doors, Nazir adds that it has had VIP patients, including DMK chief M Karunanidhi, and others from affluent sections of the society—one of whom came for a second opinion and left a heart-warming thank-you note lauding her team.
As the hospital races towards its 200th year in July 2019, there is no doubt that the bi-centenary will be a defining moment in the history of this institution.
CHENNAI'S PRIDE