The Sir Ganga Ram Hospital also provides training to young doctors under the Diplomate in National Board (DNB) program. The DNB program at the hospital was started in 1984 and currently runs the largest number of DNB specialties in the country.[5] It has the distinction of having the first bone bank in India.
Entry road of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital
On 29 March 2019, the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital became the first large hospital in Delhi to join AB-PMJAY.[6]
The original hospital was first founded in 1921 at Lahore, British India (now Pakistan) by Sir Ganga Ram (1851–1927), a civil engineer and leading philanthropist of his times. Following WWII and after the Partition of India in 1947, this second hospital was established in New Delhi on a plot of land approximately 11 acres.[7][5] The foundation was laid in April 1951 by the then Prime Minister of India Shri Jawahar Lal Nehru under the auspices of Dharma Vira, who at the time was also Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. The hospital was later inaugurated by him on 13 April 1954. Dharma Vira, son in law of Sir Gangaram is also known as the Chief Architect and Founder of the Sir Gangaram Hospital in New Delhi.
Sir Ganga Ram Hospital's front block at night
The hospital nearly closed due to lack of funds in the 1970s. It was restructured by Dr. K.C. Mahajan,[8] one of New Delhi's notable general surgeons, in 1981. As chairman of the Board of Management, Dr. Mahajan revised the financial and functional structure of the hospital and opened the Mahajan Imaging Diagnostics Centre inside the premises of the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.[9] He still serves as an Emeritus Consultant in the hospital's department of general surgery. The lessons learned in the 1970s changed the hospital focus from being service oriented to being profitable with a high quality canteen service[8]
Dr.S.K.Bhandari established the gynaecology and obstetrics Department at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and worked for 58 years before succumbing to heart failure and COVID-19 at the age of 86 years.Dr.Bhandari is said to have delivered several prominent personalities including Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi and her children.[10]
