SIDDHI MEMORIAL FOUNDATION
About Us
Siddhi Memorial Foundation (SMF) is a Not-For-Profit & Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) located in Bhaktapur city of Nepal. The organization established with the objective to provide quality, accessible and affordable healthcare services for women and children through Siddhi Memorial Hospital (SMH), to provide quality care, affection and family like support to senior citizens through the Siddhi Shaligram Senior Citizens’ Home (SSSCH) and to provide education, healthcare, shelter and protect the child rights through Siddhi & Meg’s Children Home (SMCH).
Inception
In lasting memory of their son Siddhi Sundar Dhaubhadel, who died in a road accident at the age of four on the 8th of October 1993, Mr. Shyam S. Dhaubhadel and Mrs. Ranjana Dhaubhadel founded the Siddhi Memorial Health Service Centre (SMHSC) on the 28th of October 1993 in Barahisthan, Bhaktapur Municipality-4. This not for profit clinic provided primary health care services to women and children in need under the guiding principle of “Service to Humanity”. Today there is still an ongoing Saturday morning clinic at the original location of the foundation (SMHSC) which offers consultations, immunization and family planning services free of cost to women and children.
Beginning of Siddhi Memorial Hospital (For Women & Children)
In context of 1993 in Bhaktapur, for the healthcare need the people of Bhaktapur had to travel to Kathmandu city which is almost 16 kilometers far and the public transport was not available. The demise of Siddhi who couldn’t survive due to lack emergency care facility was the realization point to understand the vulnerability of the healthcare situation of Bhaktapur. With pure objective establish a healthcare facility which could be stepping stone to fill the critical gap initially 15 bedded Siddhi Memorial Hospital was established in 1997.
The first component of the hospital, the out-patient department opened in 1997, providing consultations and primary care for underprivileged women and children. The hospital has now grown to 50 bedded Women & Children specialized hospital with dedicated 24 hours child emergency unit, Inpatient facility, neonatal and pediatric intensive care units, a maternity ward with 24 hours maternity emergency unit, 24hrs laboratory facility & x-ray, ultrasound imaging technology, echocardiography (ECHO) for fetal, pediatric & adult, family planning and dental services, and round the clock operation theater. Today it continues to provide accessible and affordable, quality healthcare services.
To serve children, women, and senior citizens in need and to strengthen art, culture, and education,
thereby helping them to grow with dignity as capable and contributing members of the society.
We are committed to providing services to all who come to our premises
especially children, women, and elders especially. We always ensure
quality in our services through proper delivery of care.
We focus on adopting, practicing, and promoting principles of good
governance in all our work that will demonstrate accountability, transparency, and quality of response to the people we serve.
We seek to work alongside people and coordinate and network with
relevant organizations at different levels in order to better meet healthcare needs.
We seek to create outreach programs and provide access to the unreached people in the areas of health.
On the very untimely demise of late Master Siddhi Sundar Dhaubhadel on the Aswin 22, 2050 (8th of October, 1993), the parents of Siddhi (Mrs. Ranjana Dhaubhadel and Mr. Shyam Sundar Dhaubhadel) established a not for profit and charitable institution named Siddhi Memorial Health Service Center at Barahipeeth of Bhaktapur Municipality Ward number 4. On the 21st day of the sad demise, that is on the 12th of Kartik 2050 (28th of October, 1993) it was inaugurated with a good gathering of community people, local leaders, social activists, scholars etc.
In the month of Aswin 2053 (October 1996) the foundation stone of the hospital was laid by the Health Minister in a very good gathering of political leaders, stakeholders, school children, health professionals and scholars. The initial two floor building
In 1998 the 24 hour Ambulance Service began with a Japanese vehicle donated by the Tondabayasji Ebisu Club of Osaka, Japan.
In 1999 the Australian Embassy made a significant donation to build the inpatient ward along with the help from our friend and well wisher Mrs. Theodora McCaughey from Canada, who was living in Kathmandu with her husband Dr. Tom McCaughey. The Australian Ambassador Mr. Brendan Doran laid the foundation stone. The two floor inpatient building was completed with Australian funding together with that from other individuals.
In 2000 the inpatient service, with 10 beds, began with the help from CHRP’s project of ADRP providing free treatment. In 2001 SMF received funding from the Canadian Embassy to add one more floor to the existing inpatient building, providing more services. Similarly, in 2002 SMF received further funding from the German Embassy and the Rotary Club of Murnau, Germany to add another floor to the inpatient building, making it a four floor building adding more service. At that time the building consisted of Paediatric Intensive Care Unit and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit on the first floor; the Children’s Ward on the second floor; and cabins on the third floor.
The healthcare went on smoothly with an addition of a simple pathology department with the funding from supporters and well wishers.
There is no limit to health care needs; the more you grow the more you need. With the financial support from Nepalhilfe Beilngries Germany, SMF built a two floor building consisting of an Operation Theater and OPD block. This has made SMF services smoother. Similarly, SMF built Siddhi Shaligram Senior Citizens Home through the funding from Nepalhilfe Beilngries and both the buildings were inaugurated by the then President of Nepalhilfe Beilngries Mr. Karl Rebele and the Founder’s mother Late Mrs. Krishna Kumari Dhaubhadel. It is to be noted that the foundation stones of both buildings were laid by them together.
SMF received another Ambulance from Nepalhilfe Beilngries. By 2005 SMF began X-ray services through the help from Nepalhilfe Kulmbach Germany. In 2007 the central oxygen supply was installed in many departments through the funding from Noble House Foundation in The Netherlands.
In 2008 Nepalhilfe Beilngries donated a brand new Toyota Land-cruiser Ambulance. In 2009 Noble House Foundation helped to build a separate Emergency block that has made it easier for visiting patients in emergency.
In 2010 a license was awarded to run a 50 bed hospital from the Department of Health. The Health Minister unveiled the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that was funded by Turkish Government (TIKA), embassy of Australia and Embassy of Germany. Looking at the need for separate rooms, cabins were made for admitted children through the funding of Nepalhilfe Kulmbach.
In 2011, Nepalhilfe Beilngries funded the setup of an operation theatre. In 2012 a Birthing Center was established with the help of Noble House Foundation Netherlands. The first baby was born in January 2013 and it was a moment of great pleasure for Siddhi staff. Nepalhilfe Kulmbach funded construction of waiting and napping rooms for visitors, especially for mothers whose babies are admitted in NICU and PICU.
In 2015 was the disaster year for SMF. Firstly, there were massive earthquakes on 25th April and 12th May, taking the lives of hundreds and damaging many properties in Bhaktapur and in 13 other districts of Nepal. Siddhi treated hundreds of injured during the earthquake and transferred other critical patients to higher centers around Kathmandu and Lalitpur. Siddhi provided food for homeless victims for about two months and shelter for many within the premises of Siddhi. SMH conducted mobile health camp; distributed relief meterials; provided free typhoid vaccine; survey of nutritional status among the earthquake victim children and so on. Many helping hands from abroad helped SMF to cope with this crisis. We are very much thankful to all those who helped to meet the expenditures for all the activities conducted.
In the same year on August 27, 2015 SMF faced an unbelievable disaster of flash flooding entering the premises with up to two meter high water, causing great property damages, but no harm came to the patients, as staff moved them to safer places. It took weeks for normalization and SMF was thankful to all those well-wishers and supporters who have shown their sympathy and provided funding to meet the loss of damaged property.
Mrs. Arlette Guhl (President of Association des amis du Siddhi Memorial Hospital) and her family of 14 members inaugurated the OPD building that had been funded by her association. It became a lot easier to run the OPD in an effective way. Also the addition of two more floors on the Siddhi Shaligram Senior Citizens Home building was inaugurated by the President Mr. Ralf Petschl and Vice President Mr. Manfred Lindner of Nepalhilfe Beilngries. This has helped to accommodate more elderly people.
Also in 2016 SMF established a children’s home named Siddhi & Meg Children’s Home, in collaboration with Meg’s Children Australia, and located in Changunarayan Municipality which is four kilometers away from Siddhi.
Nagasaki University, in collaboration with Siddhi, began a research unit which added a new dimension in Siddhi’s healthcare services. They helped to set up Telemedicine and Teleconference devices and the required equipment for research components at the laboratory department.
We collaborated with Oxford University Clinical Research Unit- Nepal (OUCRU- Nepal) to conduct research with SMH as a major study site. We started advanced diagnostic services i.e. Fetal Echocardiography, Child Echocardiography and Electroencephalography, with which we also started Pediatric Subspecialty services – Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Neurology and Pediatric Nutrition with our trained pediatricians.
Research collaboration continues as we collaborated with WHO Nepal as the only study site for Injectable polio vaccine trial as we cover most child immunization in Bhaktapur. With installment of Thermal cycler we initiated Molecular lab service and currently we are focus on cervical screening with HPV DNA testing. We added one more sub-specialty i.e. Pediatric Pulmonology, currently pediatric department runs four pediatric sub-specialty service. We laid another foundation towards our dream project of upgrading to 100 bedded hospital. But though we are passionately heading towards our vision, we were set back for a week due to devastating flood which majorly affected Laboratory, Pharmacy, X-ray, and Emergency services. With the help of our team and support from our well-wishers we resumed our full-fledged service after a week.
