Dufferin still defines SSG

VADODARA: The Countess of Dufferin Hospital or Lady Dufferin Hospital, later renamed as the Sir Sayajirao General Hospital (SSGH), has been integral to the city’s landscape since 1865. The grand make-over plan of SSGH plans to retain the historic façade of the building even as the interiors will be spruced up to accommodate more departments.
Dufferin building today houses the department of paediatrics and department of gynaecology and obstetrics of SSGH.Under the makeover plan, the building will be renovated to hold a state-of-art blood bank and pathology laboratory along with the existing departments.
“Dufferin or the main building is over a widespread area. Many of its wings are unoccupied presently and we are planning to utilise them to move more departments there. That would help us to identify more land for new buildings and expansion. Even though the exterior will maintain its historical glory, the interiors will match international modular designs,” said Dr A T Leuva, dean of Baroda Medical College and member of the make-over committee.
Earlier known as the state hospital, it was expanded to a full-scale hospital in 1886 and named after Viceroy Lord Dufferin’s wife to commemorate the Viceroy’s visit to Baroda state. Built over 37-acres of land separating the central jail and Kirti Mandir, Dufferin Hospital was the biggest health facility in the region.
Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad III had made the expansion of the hospital his pet project after he lost his first wife due to lack of medical attention in 1885. Dufferin Hospital was equipped with a medical emergency ward, maternity ward and eye-speciality ward along with a bacteriology laboratory. A nursing college and a ward for mental illness were added to the hospital in 1896. The hospital was taken over by the state government from the royal family in 1907. In 1936, it was renamed as Sir Sayajirao General Hospital to mark the diamond jubilee year of Maharaja Sayajirao’s rule.
“We can change everything about the hospital but that building will continue to be the hospital’s identity. Many of SSGH’s senior doctors have learnt medicine in that building. We have heard our professors recall stories when the hospital was practically in that one building. It is true that it is part of the city’s heritage, but for us it is more like an emotional connect,” said Leuva, who is also a member of the restoration panel in the make-over committee.
Dufferin Hospital was designed in Indo-Saracenic style by Major Charles Mant, who had also designed the Lakshmi Vilas Palace for the Gaekwads. Over the years, different blocks were added to the hospital as it grew to become the biggest referral hospital in central Gujarat. The hospital today treats lakhs of patients every year from central Gujarat and neighbouring states including Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.