The first hospital in Calcutta was built in the premises
of the Old Fort at Gerstein Place in 1707. The Council
of Fort William constructed this hospital. Initially built
for the Europeans till 1770, this hospital was then known
as the Presidency Hospital, after the Presidency of Calcutta
and due to its proximity to the Presidency Jail of
Calcutta. Later it came to be known as the "Presidency
General Hospital" or “P.G. Hospital” for short - the name
which is still commonly used. In independent India, the
hospital was renamed as "Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial
Hospital“in 1954 after great philanthropist of Calcutta,
Seth Sukhlal Karnani.
[1]
P.G. Hospital was established in 1770.[1] The East India
Company (Calcutta Council) purchased the plot of
land, which was a gardenhouse (in 1768) from Rev. John Zacharias Kiernander at a cost of Rs. 98900.00
along with an adjoining plot belonging to a Bengali
Gentleman.[2]
Rev. John Zacharias Kiernander came to Bengal from
Southern India in 1758 to work as the first Protestant missionary
in Calcutta. The well known Old Mission Church
(Bath Tephillah -'the House of Prayer'), built by him was
the earliest favourite place of Protestant worship in Mission
Row at his own expense at a cost of Rs. 65,000 and
established a mission school in the rear of the Church
in 1767. The Presidency General Hospital was established
near the St. John’s Church (presently, in 1, Garstin
Place and in its adjoining areas) which was in famous as
a hellish side. Bleshinden, “It was a veritable deathtrap
to those unfortunate who were driven to seek its shelter
and had been the subject of constant complaint for
years. At last in 1768. a house was purchased from a
native gentleman for the purpose of a hospital. It stood
to the south of the Maidan, practically in the country. This house with various alterations and additions, including
two other buildings created in 1795 remained in us as
the Presidency General Hospital”. The construction of the hospital started after the Government
occupied the land on 20 June 1769. The west wing
was completed on 2 April 1770 and the east wing on 2
June 1770. Admission of the patients started on 22 April
1770. The plaque of the Presidency General Hospital, Kolkata. The present Main Block was constructed between 1901–
1902, the Woodburn Block, Administrative Building and
Physiotherapy Building were built between 1902-1908. For construction of Woodburn block, total expense was
Rs. 3.5 Lacs. This hospital is the oldest general hospital in India, for
the practice of modern medicine and for meaningful research. It is mentioned in the book “The handbook of travellers in
India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka” by L. Rushbrook Williams that, “On the Lower Circular Road,
South of Victoria Memorial is the Presidency General
Hospital (1768), formerly intended for Europeans. In its
place The European business community has established
a well found clinic of his own. The Station military hospital,
conspicuous by its pillared frontage was (1773) the
court house of Sardar Dewani Adalat, the Chief Provincial
Court of Appeal which ceased to exist on the estab-
12 4 COURSES OFFERED
lishment of High Court in 1862”.[3] From this record, it is
quite evident that PG Hospital is a part, of world heritage,
I am thankful to Calcutta Municipal Corporation and the
Govt. of West. Bengal for declaring heritage status to this
institution in response to my appeal dated 16.1.1998.[4]
This hospital has a glorious record of fundamental research
in Medicine. Drs. Edward Hare, D.D. Cunnigham,
Ronald Ross, T. H. Lewis, Ronald Martin did
put their mark in medical treatment and research. Sir Ronald Ross made his epoch-making-discovery of
“Cycle of Malarial Parasite” in this hospital and was
awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology on 10
Dec 1902.[5] He also received the Barkley Bronze Memorial
Medal from Asiatic Society, Calcutta on 20 May
1903, Sir Ronald Ross is the first Indian (born at Almorah)
Nobel laureate. After his retirement from service
on 31 July 1899, he visited PG Hospital in January 1927,
when the “Gate of Commemoration” bearing his statue
and poem in the plaque was unveiled by Lord Lytton. Michael Madhusudan Dutta was the first native Indian to
be admitted to this hospital on 22 June 1873 and here he
died on 29 June 1873. Dr. Surendranath Ghosh was the first native Indian doctor
to be appointed in PG Hospital.[6] The first floor of the
Woodburn Block was renamed as Dr. S. N. Ghosh Ward,
by the then Chief minister Hon'ble Jyoti Basu following
the publication of the article in PG Bulletin, along with a
photograph of Dr. Ghosh and facsimile of his diary page. The first Indian doctor of the hospital has been bestowed
with honour. Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurating IPGMER.jpg
P.G. Hospital was the first Post Graduate Medical Institute
in Eastern India in 1957 when it hospital came to be
known as The Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education
& Research (IPGMER). It was inaugurated by Pandit
Jawahar Lal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India, on
16 January 1957. Undergraduate medical training started here rather late in
2004 after clearance from the Medical Council Of India
(MCI). The erstwhile Chief minister, Hon'ble Jyoti Basu had
pledged his body to the advancement of medical science. After his demise, honoring his wishes, his body
w
