Medical College and Hospital Building, Kolkata

Medical College and Hospital Building

The Medical College and Hospital Building (also known as the MCH Building) is the oldest building in Medical College Kolkata.

The building is a landmark in the city of Kolkata.

The building has the following departments:

• The Department of General Medicine

• The Department of Cardiology

• The Institute of Haematology and Transfusion Medicine

• The Department of Community Medicine

History

In 1835, Mr. James Mantin, Surgeon of the Nature Hospital, suggested formation of a committee which would enquire into the state of the health of the city and suburbs of Calcutta. The reports of the committee contained the idea of setting up a large central hospital to be called the Fever Hospital. A subscription was collected for erection of the building and the government agreed to provide the recurring expenditure. The plans were drawn up by M/s Burn & Co. and construction was superintended by Major Fraser & Col. Forbes of Bengal Engineers.

The foundation stone was laid by Most Noble, the Marquis of Dalhousie, K.T., Governor-General of India on 30th Sept. 1848 in the 12th year of the reign of Queen Victoria. The new MCH hospital was opened for sick patients on 1 March, 1852. There was also an OT on one side of the old MCH which was later upgraded in 1902. The diphtheria ward containing 12 beds was constructed on the roof of the old Medical College Hospital. In case any emergency tracheostomy was required there was a connecting alarm bell to the Casualty Block which would alert the medical officer on duty to rush to the ward. In 1917, Rai Baldeodas Birla Bahadur donated a sum of Rs 50,000 for the construction of the tuberculosis ward on the eastern side of the roof of the MCH building.

The building became partly unusable in the early 1990s, renovation followed. The building was restored and handed over to the college in November 2000.

See also

• Birla family