About | Broadwell Hospital

HISTORY

The conception of Broadwell Christian Hospital took place in 1894 when the treasury of the Women’s Union Missionary Society (WUMS) was enriched by a legacy of $10,000 from Mr. Samuel J. Broadwell of Cincinnati, to be used as a memorial for his wife, a Vice-President of the society. In 1906, the WUMS opened a new station in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh. The main aim of WUMS was to send single women missionaries to foreign lands. The year 1909 saw the successful erection of Lily Lytle Broadwell Memorial Dispensary. Dr. Jemina Mckenzie and Dr. Mary Mckenzie from Pictou County in Nova Scotia, Canada assisted by a Graduate Nurse, Mrs. Owen and some native assistants started the work at Fatehpur. The dispensary developed rapidly as patients came from hundreds of miles for relief from their suffering.

Necessity pressed for the construction of a hospital. The main building of the hospital was built under the supervision of Dr. Jemina McKenzie and the foundation stone for the Lily Lytle Broadwell Memorial Hospital was laid on 25th November 1909. Dr. McKenzie started doing Community Health Work in the nearby villages and treating the poor and needy people at roadside clinics. After Dr. Mckenzie left Fatehpur, Dr. Annabel McEwen held the fort till Dr. Gertrude Smith, M.D. took over in 1930. Dr. Smith upgraded the hospital and added 27 beds for female patients. Dr. Smith led the hospital until her retirement in 1967. Subsequently, the hospital was closed for almost 6 years.

In 1973, Broadwell Christian Hospital, Fatehpur was handed over to Emmanuel Hospital Association, New Delhi. Dr. B.W.Lyall and Mrs. Irene Lyall was handed over the charge of the hospital. The present male ward, OPD block, and private block were built during his tenure in 1978. Under him, the hospital had its golden days with patients overflowing in all wards. The hospital fell into its worst crisis when Dr. Lyall retired due to illness and later died. The hospital suffered many ups & downs since then, mainly due to frequent changes in medical staff. Mr. M.O.Varghese, Dr. Samson Ratnaraj, Mr. Rout, Dr. Pushpa Rout, Dr. Deepti Singh, Mrs. Helen Paul, Dr. P.V. Cherian, Dr. Sara Cherian, Dr. Ajit Thomas, Dr. Usha John, Dr. Supriya, Dr. Asangla, Dr. Tony and Dr. Swati Singh were some of the leaders that held this hospital during its most difficult times and each of them have contributed richly to this hospital even in the difficult moments.

In 2008, Dr. Sujith and Dr. Sunitha from CMC Vellore took over as leaders at Broadwell. In their 10 years of work till 2019, the hospital witnessed exponential growth in the medical department as well as community outreach. New infrastructure such as modular OT, High dependency unit, NICU, and renovation of wards and OPD buildings were carried out. The medical services also expanded to include Orthopedics, Critical care, General surgery, general medicine, Opthalmology, Dentistry, and Physiotherapy. In the community, projects were started to improve health and development in various parts of Fatehpur district. The peri-urban communities, in particular, were a focus in this period. Apart from this, work on TB, HIV, Mental health, and disability were started under the leadership of Dr. Sunitha. Palliative care was started in 2012 and caters to urban and rural areas and has currently served around 450 patients mostly with cancers.

Dr. Jesudoss took over the leadership in 2018 as Broadwell Hospital looks to improve its established medical services and community programs.