Aravind Eye Hospital

Introduction Aravind, established in 1976 to eliminate unnecessary blindness, is the world's largest and most productive ophthalmologic institution. Aravind Eye Hospital's Dr. Venkataswamy has provided free eye care and surgery to millions of poor patients in addition to regular patients. Currently, there are three Aravind Eye Hospitals in Tamil Nadu Province, Madurai, Tirunelvili, Tai. A new facility in Coimbatore is also under consideration. Since its founding, Aravind Hospital has screened 65 million patients and has performed about 335,000 cataract surgeries, about 70% of which are free.

Aravind Eye Hospital began with that humble beginning to promote eye health not only in India but around the world. Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy and his older sister and brother-in-law established Aravind in 1976 (Maurice, 2001). Ophthalmology Hospital was originally held in rental housing with just 10 beds. The founder of the three people was the only doctor when Aravind first opened. Since then, it has grown gradually every year. The hospital grew into a 5-storey building in Madurai, Tamil Nadu State in South India. There are currently 1,900 beds in this special hospital. As of 2001, about 5 million blind people were discharged and vision was fully recovered. In addition, Aravind Eye Hospital expanded to five hospitals across India (Maurice, 2001). The Aravind franchise includes hospitals aimed at helping children recover their sight (Maurice, 2001).

The Aravind team cooperated with about 3 million patients in 2000 (Maurice, 2001). This is about 85-90% higher than most other hospitals in India. In addition, Aravind holds a mobile "ophthalmic camp" throughout the year in order to raise awareness of eye care in India (Maurice, 2001). These ophthalmic camps screened villagers on Sunday and then sent patients to Aravind in the evening (Chang, 2004). After that, surgery was done on Monday. 300 to 400 cases on Monday, usually 500 items (Chang, 2004). Most ophthalmologists in the world do less than 350 surgeries per year. In Aravind, the average number of operations per doctor is 2,000 per year. Aravind wants to increase its income by hiring and training local doctors and surgeons. Aravind pays slightly more than the government hospital, but 7 to 10 doctors leave every year. The reason is that because Aravind is a non-profit organization, it can not compete with private practice institutions (Maurice, 2001).