History of the Development of the Society Hospital
It was a sense of patriotism combined with telling concern for the sick, particularly among the under privileged section, that inspired our founder secretary Dr. Nani Guha, a freedom fighter and renowned physician to found this Calcutta Heart Clinic and Hospital Society, a non-commercial, socio-medical organization, with an objective to provide all sorts of socio-medical services to the needy including in-house cardiac and other medical treatment facilities with deep hospitality at minimum possible cost.
It was registered in the year 1975 under WB Societies Registration Act, 1961. Its present premises at Salt Lake was built in 1987 for furtherance of its noble object.
Untimely demise of Dr. Nani Guha in the year 1991, it was put back on rails in the year 1995 under the able leadership and the guidance of eminent scientist and educationist Sushil Kumar Mukherjee as the president of the Governing Body of the Society.
After the demise of Dr. Sushil Kumar Mukherjee, the present President Prof. Dhrubajyoti Mukhopadhyay and the Governing Body of the Society with all its consultants, doctors, staffs and members are putting their all-out effort to bring up the Hospital building to a desired size with required facilities and efficiency to meet the growing demand and requirement of the needy people with utter sincerity and high ethical values.
Dr. Nani Guha
Founder of the Calcutta Heart Clinic and Hospital
It was a very turbulent period in modern India when Dr. Nani Guha was a child and a young man. The whole country was seething with the fervour of independence struggle. The city of Dhaka, where Nani Guha spent his childhood, was a centre of revolutionary activity. Many a revolutionary, some in the underground, used to visit the Guha family. Their character and the tales of revolution he heard from them must have made a deep impression on young Nani. While he was a young boy he saw his sister being arrested by the British police on a trumped-up charge of hiding stolen arms. Growing up in this milieu he imbibed the idea of devoting his life to serve the country and the people.
In 1939 he traveled to Calcutta to enroll himself as a student at the Calcutta Medical College. As a student he was actively engaged in the freedom struggle and took part in the 1942 August movement. Because of this he was arrested in 1942, but was released later on review of his case. In 1945 he finally qualified as a doctor. Even from his student days he looked upon the medical profession as an opportunity to serve the ailing people. During the man-made famine of 1943, he organized a group of medical students to provide relief to the hunger-stricken people.
Dr. Nani Guha’s vision was that the common people should have access to the best possible medical treatment. Guided by this dream, he traveled to UK in 1948 for higher medical education. In 1952 he returned back to India. Declining a lucrative job offer in Singapur, he joined the National Medical College and started a private practice, though his practice was more of the nature of philanthropy to treat the needy people. With passage of time his reputation as a physician grew, and his patients tell many astounding stories about his clinical diagnosis and treatment. If he wanted he could have amassed a fortune through his medical practice, but he never lost sight of his objective to serve the common people through his profession.
Dr. Guha had close links with the progressive and left movement in the country. He had personal friendship with many left leaders, irrespective of political affiliation, and many came to him for treatment. After crossing many hurdles Dr Guha could realize his dream in 1975 when the Calcutta Heart Clinic and Hospital Society was founded. The Calcutta Heart Clinic had a modest beginning at 5 Talbagan Row with both outdoor and indoor divisions. From the very beginning Dr Guha set the motto of the hospital to be service to the needy people. Unlike most other private hospitals the Calcutta Heart Clinic was not run as a business venture to earn profit, but to provide best and up-to-date treatment to the patients at a nominal cost. The indoor patients would get treatment, medicines and pathological investigations all for a paltry sum of fifty rupees a day. He could instill among the hospital staff and nurses the spirit of caring for the patients with a humane approach. The hospital set up a new standard not only in the treatment of diseases, but in establishing a bond with the patients. The Calcutta Heart Clinic flourished and became a reputed name. In 1986 it came to its new premises at Salt Lake and was poised for expansion. But the onerous task of setting up and running the hospital through difficult times took its toll on the health of Dr. Nani Guha. His untimely demise in 1991 put an end to a distinguished career of selfless service to the common people.
The sudden death of Dr Guha put the hospital in dire straits and the venture was on the verge of collapsing. Fortunately in 1995, another great humanist, the eminent scientist and educationist Professor Sushil Kumar Mukherjee came forward to save this institution. But that is another story.
Professor Sushil Kumar Mukherjee
Visionary Leader of the Calcutta Heart Clinic and Hospital
Professor Sushil Kumar Mukherjee, a great educationist, a scientist of international repute was a humanist and social activist, an ever-watchful sentinel of democratic principles and values and a valiant fighter for the cause of the people. He belonged to that rare band of scientists who took science emotionally as a way of life and not merely as a profession. Rare clarity of scientific vision, tenacious pursuit of truth, strict adherence to scientific values, high standards of ethics and morality, combined with pro-people outlook and love for the suffering humanity, were the hallmarks of the personality of Professor Mukherjee.
Professor Sushil Kumar Mukherjee, a great educationist, a scientist of international repute was a humanist and social activist, an ever-watchful sentinel of democratic principles and values and a valiant fighter for the cause of the people. He belonged to that rare band of scientists who took science emotionally as a way of life and not merely as a profession. Rare clarity of scientific vision, tenacious pursuit of truth, strict adherence to scientific values, high standards of ethics and morality, combined with pro-people outlook and love for the suffering humanity, were the hallmarks of the personality of Professor Mukherjee.
When he took up the reins of the Calcutta Heart Clinic and Hospital, the institution was in dire straits and on the verge of closing down. But he led a dedicated team of doctors, nurses, medical and administrative staff to take up a mammoth task of regeneration and reorganization, and succeeded in putting the hospital back on the rails again. The reputation of the Calcutta Heart Clinic grew for its honesty, transparency and patient-friendly approach, However, vested interests tried to thwart the efforts of the new Governing Body under his leadership, set up many obstacles and even physically attacked the hospital. But with his inspiring leadership the entire staff of the hospital, one and all, courageously faced the attacks and frustrated their attempts. All the time he kept a watchful eye that the hospital remains true to its motto of providing affordable quality health care to the common people. When he laid down his baton in 2006, the Heart Clinic had already carved out a niche in the medical field in West Bengal; it was poised to scale new heights with an ambitious plan for expansion envisioned by Professor Mukherjee. The Calcutta Heart Clinic and Hospital owes a lot to Professor Sushil Kumar Mukherjee for what it has become today.