Lady Dufferin Hospital (now SSG) - a tribute to Maharajah Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda

Dufferin Hospital (SSG), Vadadora 1890 facebool.com

SSG hospital (Lady Dufferin hospital), Vadadora.historyofvadodara.in

Countess Dufferin hospital, Baroda (Vadadora), Gujarat  now called Sayjajirao Gaekwad Hospital was first commissioned in the 1870 by the then ruler Sayajirao Gaekwad III who ran the princely state of Baroda with care,  ably assisted by his dewan T. Madhvarao.  As a ruler he was more concerned about the welfare of his subjects and paid particular attention to education and health care. The common people in that state were in need of quality health care as they were dependent on local health experts - Hakims who followed age old traditional methods and used herbal medication. The hospital was completed in 1886 and  was opened to commemorate the visit of the Viceroy, the Earl of Dufferin to Baroda, and was named after his wife - Hariot Georgina Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood.

Lord and lady Duffrin. oppositethecity.wordpress.com

The general hospital founded in 1855 by Maharajah Ganapatrao to cater to the locals was not good enough due to passage of time and increase in patients seeking help. A fully equipped medical department came up in 1876 under the guidance of T. Madhavarao to meet the medical needs of the people from various parts in the state. 

Being a man of foresight and vision the Maharaja had built many hospitals between 1876 and 1907 - the Countess Dufferin hospital, Sayajirao military hospital, Jamnabai Dispensary, etc 

Countess Dufferin hospital was designed in Indo-European style - Indo-Saracenic with features like domes, cusped arches and finials. The architect was Major Charles Mant (1840-81). Just like Robert Chisholm, Mant was a pioneer of this style and used it in his designs for other civic and state buildings in Baroda such as the State Library and most notably the Lakshmi Vilas Palace.

 Initially it was a simple one story structure with 56 beds only and in the later years underwent major changes. Wit demands on the increase, on the campus came up additional hospitals Sayajirao military hospital - 1880 and state general hospital in 1917 . 

In the later years Countess Dufferin hospital catered to the health care of women and children with better facilities. Separate residences were built near the hospital for the chief doctor and head nurse. Since there was a need to have more trained nurses in 1896, a nursing College was built on the campus. Now it is part of the Baroda medical College affiliated to MS University, Vadadora. Now boasting more than 1200 beds the SSG hospital's humble journey was  an impressive one and it is a  tribute to the munificence of a great Baroda ruler.  

https://historyofvadodara.in/countess-of-dufferin-hospital-ssg/

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/c/019pho000430s24u00045000.html