Overview

The Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust (SSSCT), is a registered public charitable trust founded in 1972 by Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Its humanitarian work includes drinking water projects, healthcare and education. Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences (SSSIHMS) in Puttaparthi, inaugurated in November 1991 by the then prime minister of India, P. V. Narasimha Rao, is one of the famous hospitals set up by SSSCT. In 2020, Sri Satya Sai Central Trust was granted Special Consultative status by United Nations Economic and Social Council. In November 2021, the SSSCT was confererred with the YSR Lifetime Achievement Award, by the Andhra Pradesh government for outstanding contribution to public service. == History == Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust was founded on 2 September 1972, with Sathya Sai Baba as the sole trustee, for carrying out activities in the areas of providing relief to the poor, medical relief, and education. On 16 July 1975, the Trust was registered under Section 12A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. In March 2010, the Trust was reconstituted to include apart from Baba, former Chief Justice of India PN Bhagawati, chartered accountant Indulal Shah, former Central Vigilance Commission Chief SV Giri, WS Industries Chairman V Srinivasan, and RJ Rathnakar. At that time, the Trust's council of management also had lawyer SS Naganand, former Canara Bank Chairman JV Shetty, former Indian Overseas Bank Chairman TKK Bhagawat, and K Chakravarthi (IAS retired). After Sathya Sai Baba’s demise in April 2011, the activities of the Trust were collectively managed by the then board of trustees. One of the trustees, RJ Rathnakar, the son of Sathya Sai Baba’s younger brother late RV Janakiramaiah, had been shouldering the responsibilities of implementing the decisions, as he stays in Puttaparthi. In January 2020, RJ Rathnakar was unanimously appointed as Managing Trustee, by all the trustees. Bangalore Mirror notes that the new post was created to further expand the service activities. As of August 2023, there are seven members on the Board of Trustees, including the Managing Trustee. == Board of trustees == T. K. K. Bhagawat K. Chakravarthi Vijay Kelkar V. Mohan Ryuko Hira S. S. Naganand R. J. Rathnakar == Healthcare projects == The Trust is responsible for the establishment, functioning, and management of two super-specialty hospitals – Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram, and Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Whitefield, Bengaluru. They are also responsible for two general hospitals – the first one in Puttaparthi, built in 1954, and the second one in Whitefield, Bengaluru, built in 1976. Apart from that, in 2004, Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital was launched to provide comprehensive health care at doorstep to residents of neighboring villages. The healthcare services offered by the Trust are in keeping with the principles laid down by Sathya Sai Baba: Healthcare should be available to all, irrespective of caste, religion, nationality, or financial status. Healthcare should be decommercialized and it should be delivered free of charge. Healthcare should be driven by human values and services should be administered with love. Healthcare should be combined with spiritualism and the goal should be to heal the patient in body, mind, and spirit, not merely to cure disease. Besides employees, volunteers across various disciplines spend time regularly with the aim of contributing service to society. It is hoped that the healthcare projects initiated by the Trust may serve as a model for other individuals and organizations to create similar hospitals in the service of mankind. Altruism can become one of the foremost impetuses of caregivers and replication of such a model may well lead the world into an era in which altruism becomes the key attribute of healthcare economics. === Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram === On 22 November 1991, a day before the 65th birthday of Sathya Sai Baba, P. V. Narasimha Rao, the then Prime Minister of India had flown down to Puttaparthi and inaugurated the 220-bed super-specialty hospital. It was built in 10 months, at a cost of Rs 300 crores with the aim of providing free medical care to the sick and ailing with dedication, commitment, love, and the best of skills, so that they will be cured in body, mind and spirit. The specialties offered include cardiology, ophthalmology, urology, gastroenterology, CTVS and orthopedics. Former head of AIIMS, Dr. Amarnath Safaya was appointed as the first director of the hospital. ==== Cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery ==== A report published in World Health Forum, 1998, says that in the first five-year period from November 1991 to November 1996, a total of 5,345 heart operations were performed, 3052 of which were for open heart surgery (correction of congenital anomalies in children, valvular repairs, coronary artery surgery, removal of heart tumors, etc.). Some 4,572 procedures were carried out in the cardiac catheterization laboratory, of which 733 were percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasties, mitral or pulmonary valvuloplasties, and permanent pacemaker implantations. A total of 159,361 outpatients were examined and treated, while over 8,860 were admitted as inpatients for an average stay of 12 days. Those who had operations included 1,509 students, 744 children, and 1,055 housewives. Mortality and infection rates were reported to be below 2%, comparable to the world average of the best centres of cardiac surgery in the world. ==== Uro-nephrology and ophthalmology ==== In the early four years (1992-1996), a total of 47,396 outpatients were examined and investigated in the uro-nephrology department. Over 5,652 surgical operations were performed, 4,286 kidney dialyses, and 71 kidney transplants. The ophthalmology department provides total eye care including vitreoretinal surgery, laser treatment, photo-coagulation, and cryosurgery. A sophisticated eye bank was set up to serve the many cases of corneal blindness. In the two years since 1994, 28,245 outpatients had been examined, investigated, and treated; 2,525 operations were carried out for eye trauma, corneal transplantation, and vitreous and retinal diseases. ==== The Department of Plastic Surgery ==== The Department of Plastic Surgery began functioning at the SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, in July 1997. The first operation was conducted on September 15, 1997. ==== Covid-19 treatment centre ==== During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, around 420 hospital staff were involved in providing care at the hospital's Covid-19 treatment center including 53 doctors, 142 nurses, and 225 other paramedical and support staff. The Trust donated or spent a total of US$2 Million, including donations to the state and central government relief funds, medical supplies to 14 quarantine centres in the district, and to convert a facility into 125-bed COVID hospital with five ICU beds with ventilators. The Trust's Central Research and Instrumentation Facility developed a rapid Covid-19 detection kit (SAIC-19 Ag Kit), which was validated and approved for use by the Indian Council of Medical Research. The Trust collaborated with UNICEF in creating public awareness programmes on Covid-19 infection. ==== Recognition ==== The SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram was conferred National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) accreditation on 11 July 2016 for quality patient care. In June 2023, SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram received an award of recognition from the Andhra Pradesh Government for their clean and green initiatives including energy conservation within the campus, a sewage treatment plant of 500 KLD capacity, solar power generation of 1.9 MW capacity, check dams for water conservation, tree plantation, biomedical waste segregation with proper colour coding for ease of disposal, and energy-efficient lighting. ==== Architecture ==== Constructed by Larsen & Toubro, the hospital was designed by Keith Critchlow, a British artist, lecturer, author, sacred geometer, professor of architecture and a co-founder of the Temenos Academy in the UK. Isaac Tigrett, who had founded the Hard Rock Cafe enterprise, had sought Critchlow's expertise, and his use of sacred geometry played a major role in the architectural design of the hospital. === The Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Whitefield === Replicating the success of the super-specialty hospital in Prasanthi Nilayam, Sathya Sai Baba announced a similar project for Bengaluru. On 19 January 2001, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated the 330-bed hospital in Whitefield, Bengaluru. An article in INSEAD Knowledge, notes that the hospital is set in a sprawling 52-acre complex with a placid and contemplative atmosphere, and patients are greeted by volunteers who come to the hospital in the spirit of selfless service, one of the central values extolled by Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The same article mentions that as of March 2015, 46,535 cardiology procedures and 20,720 neurology procedures had been performed at the Bangalore facility, with a mortality rate (0.87%) - that is lower than the average for a hospital in the developed world. Doctors, as well as skilled workers for non-clinical positions volunteer their services. In 2016, new equipment was added and various departments of the SSSIHM in both Prasanthigram and Whitefield were upgraded at the cost of Rs.100 crores. === Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital, Prasanthi Nilayam === Much before the Trust was founded, Sathya Sai Baba had a general hospital constructed in Prasanthi Nilayam in the mid-1950s. Since Puttaparthi was a remote village, there were no basic healthcare facilities to address even the primary healthcare needs of villagers and pregnant women. Baba laid the foundation stone for Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital on his birthday on 23 November 1954. It was inaugurated on 4 October 1956. Baba also launched a ‘healthcare on wheels’ programme under the general hospital in Puttaparthi. A ‘medical van’ took doctors and nurses regularly to villages offering curative services and health education. Later, under the aegis of the Trust, the hospital was expanded in the 80s and the 90s to include operation theatres, labor wards, and post-natal wards. Primary healthcare, emergencies, normal deliveries, Caesarian sections, dental problems, and general surgeries are handled in the hospital. === Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital, Whitefield === The general hospital in Whitefield was set up in 1976, when Whitefield was a remote village out of Bangalore city limits. It serves the poor from over 500 villages around Whitefield, and even districts of neighbouring states. Over the years, the hospital has expanded into a 35,000-sqft building over four acres of land, and has state-of-the-art medical facilities and equipments. All cases from gynaecology and general surgery to psychiatry are taken up. It has a dispensary that gives medicines to the patients treated here free. As of May 2001, the hospital had treated over 2 million cases free, including knee and hip replacement surgeries, cornea grafts, plastic surgery to set right clefts, and removal of kidney stones. === Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital, Prasanthi Nilayam === Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital is a healthcare on wheels program offering advanced medical care at the doorstep for patients living in remote villages. Other than surgeries that require general anesthesia, all medical services are offered on a monthly basis. In 2005, Sathya Sai Baba commissioned Siemens India to custom build a bus with a high-power supply generator on board, and the Mobile Hospital service was launched in Puttaparthi in 2006. The bus is equipped with an ultrasound with color Doppler, 2D echocardiogram, digital X-ray, biochemistry, and clinical pathology labs along with a pharmacy that dispenses a month’s supply of medicines to last until the next month’s visit. The Mobile Hospital at Prasanthi Nilayam serves Bukkapatnam, Chennekothapalli, Nallamada, Obuladevaraj Cheruvu, and Puttaparthi Mandals. Every month, for twelve days, the mobile clinic with its team of doctors visits one village every day. Villages up to a radius of 50 kilometers around Puttaparthi are covered. Patients from 30 to 50 villages converge at a nodal point on the scheduled dates. Volunteers prep the selected site – the rooms temporarily allocated to them in the school building of the village. They set up overnight a makeshift hospital that comprises the bus, classrooms, and tents. While tents and verandahs serve as waiting areas, classrooms serve as consultation rooms. Instant diagnostics are carried out in the labs on the bus. The whole activity is powered by the onboard generator. The hospital is staffed by a team of 500 volunteer doctors ranging from professors to junior physicians and including private