Sankara Nethralaya


Sankara Nethralaya is a not-for-profit missionary institution for ophthalmic care headquartered in Chennai, India. In the name "Sankara Nethralaya", "Sankara" is a reference to Adi Shankaracharya and "Nethralaya" means "The Temple of the Eye". Sankara Nethralaya receives patients from India and abroad. Nani A. Palkivala, former Indian ambassador to United States, described Sankara Nethralaya as the "Best managed charitable organization in India". Sankara Nethralaya has over 1000 employees and serves around 1500 patients per day, performing over 100 surgeries per day. The annual revenue as per the taxes is close to US$100 million.
Sankrar Nethralaya was rated among the top 4 ophthalmic institutions worldwide in 2020 by Newsweek.

History

In 1976 when addressing a group of doctors, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, the Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam spoke of the need to create a hospital. On the command of Dr. Sengamedu Srinivasa Badrinath, with a group of philanthropists founded a charitable not-for-profit eye hospital. In a solemn function held at the premises of the Vijaya Hospital with Semmangudi Srinivasa Aiyer offering the prayer, Dr. T Agarwal inaugurated the project.
On the auspicious day of Vinayaka Chaturthi, 6 September 1978, the hospital came into existence. It was named Sankara Nethralaya, which means "The Temple of the Eye".
Today Sankara Nethralaya has its services running at five locations in Chennai and has services at Mukundapur in Kolkata, Rameshwaram and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, and has plans to expand in more states and possibly other countries.
Sankara Nethralaya has various fellowships in Ophthalmology such as Vitreo Retina, Glaucoma, Cornea, etc... and also has various fellowships and certificate courses in Optometry such as Binocular Vision, Vision Therapy, Contact Lens, Low Vision, and so forth.
Bachelor of Optometry courses are run here in collaboration with SASTRA University, Tanjore.
B.Sc and M.Sc in Medical Laboratory Technology, Master of Optometry courses are run here affiliated to Tamil Nadu Dr M G R Medical University, Chennai.

Expansion

Sankara Nethralaya has been branching out very fast recently. Apart from the five centres in Chennai and in Kolkata and Rameswaram, the hospital is now present in Bengaluru, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh as TTD Sri Srinivasa Sankara Nethralaya.
Branches
The Jaslok Community Ophthalmic Centre at Sankara Nethralaya offers free services to economically weaker sections.

International patients

Apart from receiving patients from all over the country, Sankara Nethralaya renders service to international patients including the US, UK and Bangladesh.

CU Shah Eye Bank

Sri C U Shah Eye Bank started functioning in Sankara Nethralaya in September 1979. The department of Medical Sociology was established in 1990 with the aim of promoting awareness on eye donation by educating and motivating the public for this noble cause.

Technology

Sankara Nethralaya was one of the first to implement electronic medical records in its facility with the complete OPD and the procedures done in the OPD available online thereby removing transferring of Records manually between complexes. Very soon electronic medical records will be implemented in the in-patient area. In stem cell research, a collaborative project on corneal stem cells have been underway with Nichi-In Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Chennai.

Academics

Ophthalmic course

From its inception in 1978, the C U Shah Ophthalmic Postgraduate Training Center has been offering fellowship programmes in Vitreo-Retinal Surgery and General Ophthalmology to holders of postgraduate degree and a diploma in Ophthalmology. The center offers training programmes for graduates in Post graduation in Ophthalmology. The center also conducts the final FRCS Examination of the Royal College of Surgeons.

Courses offered

The Elite School of Optometry is the first and leading college of optometry in India offering a four-year professional degree: B. Optometry.
The college is run by Sankara Nethralaya in collaboration with SASTRA University, Tanjore from the academic year 2017–18.. Located at close proximity to the Chennai International Airport, Chennai, ESO has a diverse student community coming from states across the country. ESO is considered the IIT of optometry in India. The college gives its students a strong academic foundation and excellent clinical training.
Students of ESO are placed well across the world. Many of them completed their MS PHD program on a scholarship from various leading universities of different countries. Few of them are working for leading MNCs across the world. Few of them are heading the research department of known University or hospital. And recently few are part of IIT and contributing to academics at IIT.

The SN Academy

The Sankara Nethralaya Academy – with a distinctive series of programmes and expert faculty – aims to create a pool of well-trained eye care professionals competent to meet challenges in ophthalmology.
The academy serves as a platform for creating, processing and disseminating knowledge related to eye care, ophthalmic research and hospital administration.
The institution offers wide-ranging programmes including allied health sciences like Optometry, Ophthalmic Dispensing, Medical Laboratory Technology, Hospital & Healthcare Management, Hospital Administration, etc...

Research

Vision Research Foundation

Vision Research Foundation has, over the last two decades, been doing premier work in the areas of ocular infections, cataract, tumours, angiogenesis and genetic basis of eye diseases and pathobiology of other ophthalmic disorders. Scientists working with VRF have developed basic techniques in applied medical biotechnology essential to understand disease processes involved in ophthalmology particularly related to etiopathogenesis and identification of infectious, genetic and malignant disorders. VRF has applied for four patents in Diagnostic Microbiology. One of the patents awarded was on corneal limbal stem cell in vitro expansion for treating ocular surface disorders jointly with Nichi-In Centre for Regenerative Medicine. Five candidates have been awarded PhD degree and 13 doctoral candidates are registered with Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University and Birla Institute of Science and Technology, Pilani. The main strength of the group lies in the fact that they work together with ophthalmologists and basic vision scientists, besides having a large clinical resource as patients come from all over India to Sankara Nethralaya.
Vision Research Foundation has research laboratory facilities in the areas of Pathology, Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology. The facilities of VRF were located in an old building which has been demolished providing sufficient space to raise a new building for vision research.

Teleophthalmology

A unique teleophthalmology project was started in villages in a 100 km radius of Chennai with a mobile bus offering primary eye care. It was inaugurated by the former president of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, in 2003. The key to the project was a mobile bus, designed by a team from Sankara Nethralaya with assistance from the Indian Space Research organization.

Sankara Nethralaya Women's Auxiliary (SWAN)

Registered as a public charitable trust in 1984, SWAN volunteers have served Sankara Nethralya. All medical and post operative needs of poor patients, including food and spectacles, are taken care by SWAN volunteers. This apart, SWAN volunteers assists patients in the hospital, help the Medical Records Department, Library, Patient service dept, organise conferences, events, maintain the STD booths, utility and coffee shop at the hospital premises.
In 2009, SWAN added another feather in its cap: 25 years of selfless service.

Awards and recognitions