Posted by Peggy Strom on Mar 23, 2023
When District Governor Dayle Quigley visited our club last fall, she mentioned a large impactful project that was done by the Rotary Club of Banjara Hills, Hyderabad India. Our incoming RI President (2024-5) Stephanie Urchik visited the hospital which was built for hospice care, and remarked, “It is the work of the angels”. Today we learned more about this remarkable project from Banjara Hills Rotarian Dr. M. Subrahmanyam who joined us via Zoom.  Dr. Subrahmanyam currently leads the Department of Anesthesiology for Rainbow Hospitals Group in Hyderabad, following stints in the UK and at the University of Michigan.  Sparsh Palliative Care Services was founded in 2014.  It provides hospice and palliative care support to patients at end of life. These services are non-existent in most parts of India due to various cultural and economic reasons. One primary cultural issue is that families don't accept or talk about death to patients who are facing the end, and instead, spend far too much money on unnecessary treatment such as being hooked to a ventilator. The Sparsh facility has a staff of 79 and all services are free to patients.  It is managed through a trust with several Rotarian physicians, including Dr. Subrahmanyam, serving as trustees.  This trust has a platinum rating with the agency that monitors the health of non-profit organizations.  Most of the fundraising support for Sparsh comes from generous donors in the U.S.