New SMH Staff Quarters Ready for Occupancy
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It’s comfortable, beautiful, and ready to go.  Doctors, nurses, and administrators can now begin to move in to the new staff quarters buildings at Scudder Memorial Hospital in Ranipet, southeast India.
The long-needed facilities can house up to 16 staff members and their families. The buildings replace long-outdated quarters that are as much as 70 years old and in a bad state of repair. Plumbing and electrical problems have abounded as have leaky roofs. Some of the older buildings even have thatched roofs.
Senior Administrative Officer Cecil Daniel says such new housing quarters play a significant role in getting medical professionals to join rural mission hospitals like Scudder Memorial.
SMH, which was founded in 1866 by Dr. Silas Scudder, has always served the very poorest in the Ranipet region. In all, 47 Scudder family members have contributed their services to this remarkable hospital.
Scudder Memorial provides low cost and often free medical care to residents of the Tamil Nadu area, comprising nearly 100 communities and towns in a region of 2.5 million people. With 240 beds, it serves over 150 inpatients and 350 outpatients a day with 15 wards, 15 clinics, and 27 departments and sections.
Doctors and husband and wife James, an SAF Board member, and Susan Taylor kick-started the project in 2016 by pledging to fund six staff quarters. SMH Medical Superintendent Dr. Anbu Suresh and his associates took it from there.
With victory in sight and all but a few minor items to be completed, such as fencing, a car shed, and landscaping, the hospital scheduled an Inauguration Ceremony for January 25th.
