Preventing a Lifetime of Serious Health and Social Disadvantage through Surgery
Funding is nearing completion for Scudder Memorial Hospital’s new cleft palate surgery unit in Ranipet, India. When it’s in full operation, thousands of children will have the gift of healthier, more fulfilling lives.
The project received a major boost on March 20 with the Rotary Foundation’s announcement that it had approved a grant of $148,000. The unit is scheduled to open this fall. SMH Dr. Sam Raj provides the details in this video.
Dr. Rob Fish, whose long service to the Scudder Association Foundation includes serving as board member and president, filed the grant application and guided it to fruition. He is a long-time dedicated Rotarian.
Today, Scudder Memorial continues to diligently work toward its mission of caring for people of lesser means in the Ranipet area at little or no cost to the patient.
The hospital’s service area covers 75 villages, six towns, and 10 independent communities with a population of approximately 2 ½ million people.
The institution grew from a seed planted by Dr. John Scudder, India’s first American medical missionary, when he established a dispensary in Ranipet in 1820. It flourished over the years and was established as Scudder Memorial Hospital by Dr. Silas Scudder, the son of Dr. John, in 1866.
