TURA: A commitment made three decades ago by a Catholic missionary priest to establish a hospital in the Garo Hills after having witnessed the lack of basic medical care in the rural areas has resulted in the Holy Cross hospital in Tura celebrating its silver jubilee on Saturday.
The hospital’s twenty-five years of active health service for the people residing in this western region of the state was colourfully celebrated at its sprawling premises at Walbakgre locality of New Tura with Meghalaya Home Minister James Pangsang K Sangma gracing the silver jubilee event in the presence of the Bishop of Tura, Rt Rev Andrew R Marak, Adviser to the chief minister and North Tura MLA Thomas A Sangma, Government chief whip and Williamnagar legislator Marcuise Marak, missionaries of the North East Provincial, and above all the man who made this dream possible- Bishop Emeritus of Tura George Mamalassery D.D.
Prior to his ordination as the Bishop of Tura in 1979, Rev. Fr George Mamalassery had undertaken missionary work in far-flung areas of the Garo Hills. It was in distant Baghmara of remote South Garo Hills district that he witnessed a tragedy that would have a profound impact on his life.
A pregnant mother lost her life and that of the child in her womb from a common disease only because there were no basic medical facilities available to treat them.
“It made me think that many other women have to face the same tragic fate in the rural areas without any medical care. If there were more hospitals, most of them could be saved. That incident remained so deep in me that I thought then, if I were to get a chance, I would make a hospital in Garo Hills,” recalled Bishop Emeritus George Mamalassery.
His missionary desire would turn into a reality after he was ordained as the Bishop of Tura.
In 1988 a deal was signed and land was purchased after the son-in-law of Najing Nokma of Danakgre A’king land approached Bishop Mamalassery expressing willingness to provide land at his Walbakgre village (now a part of New Tura/Dakopgre) if the church would establish some institution over there.
It is at that very site that the 100 bedded Holy Cross Hospital and St. Luke’s Parish stands today, inaugurated by the then Union Minister P A Sangma in the presence of Meghalaya Chief Minister Salseng C Marak in 1993.
In the words of Meghalaya Home Minister James Pangsang K Sangma, “the vision of the founding fathers to serve the people of the region by providing health care facilities has fructified inspite of the many challenges faced by them.”
Recalling the close association that his family has with the holy Cross Hospital since its establishment, the home minister exalted the dedicated service of the medical fraternity and the para-medical staff of the hospital.
Encouraging the missionary Sisters of Holy Cross to continue with their services to the people, James Pangsang K Sangma also suggested they initiate preventive health care services, apart from the services provided by them, since many a time people are reluctant to go for regular health check-ups and visits to hospitals, doing so only when it’s too late for treatment.
It is worth mentioning that the Holy Cross Sisters of Menzingen who were already running the Nazareth Hospital in Shillong were tasked by Bishop Mamalassery to take over the new Holy Cross Hospital at Tura. They accepted the offer and there would be no turning back from there.
“Jubilee is a time to rejoice, renew and at the same time reflect on the past to improve in the future,” said Bishop Emeritus Mamalassery at the silver jubilee celebrations.
Reminisce of the challenges faced at the time of the project’s inception, the bishop emeritus narrated the difficulties faced due to the lack of sufficient doctors and staff, unavailability of engineers for servicing different machines and equipment at the hospital, the site’s location and isolation in the early 1990s.
One of the crucial achievements at the beginning of the project was the successful laying of a 4 km long water pipe all the way from the PHE water tank at Araimile to Walbakgre, at a time when water was a scarcity in the New Tura and Dakopgre region.
The sight of Bishop Mamalassery on the road side, wearing his priestly Cassock, supervising the proper laying of the pipes every day for several weeks was the talk of the town.
“I wanted to make sure that in a few years time when the road would be widened, the pipes would not be broken or lost,” recalls bishop Mamalassery.
Today, Holy Cross hospital has sufficient water supply to run its day to day operations.
Administrator of the hospital, Sister Shiny Abraham in her address at the silver jubilee celebration narrated how the institute took shape and praised the dedication of Bishop George Mamalassery.
“The hospital now provides comprehensive health care services in the field of Paediatrics, Gynecology, Neonatology, general medicine and surgery, Ultrasound scanning, X-Ray, ECG and Echocardiography and also renders medical assistance to Cardiology, Urology, Paedriatric and general surgery, Orthopaedic and Laparoscopic surgeries,” informs Sister Abraham.
Since its opening in 1993, the hospital has attended to an approximate four lakh patients in the region, state the Holy Cross Administrator.
Words of encouragement and gratitude were also showered on the hospital and its staff by the current Bishop of Tura, Rt Rev Andrew R Marak, among others.
From a humble beginning aimed at providing basic medical care to those in need, the Holy Cross Hospital has now risen leaps and bounds even imparting training for nursing care through the establishment of the Rino Simonetti Memorial School of Nursing at its campus in Tura.