A helping hand from above

Right in the midst of the hustle bustle of the Margao town sits the iconic Hospicio, South Goa's district hospital, housed in a grand heritage home where the distinct flavour of a colonial past synergises with modern day medicine.

Nearing 150 years, this grand institution, which metamorphosed from a palliative care home to a full-fledged hospital in the years immediately following Liberation, has dedicatedly served people with the simple principle 'in service of mankind lies godliness'.

A history of the iconic hospital is unforgettably intertwined with the history of the city itself. A mere evocation of its name, and those who consider Margao their home are flush with memories. And while those who have contributed to it have dwindled to a handful, there are still Goan families who recount with nostalgia their ancestors' association with it.

Indeed, many of Goa's most well-known doctors — Bento Egipsy, Wilfred D'Souza, Arcanjo Menezes, and GV Naik, to name a few — have graced its wards and theatres with their skill.

But Hospicio isn't only about the nostalgia. Its journey has seen bigger challenges — two world wars, periods of stagnation, individual rivalries amongst the members of its trust, parochialism, and, in recent decades, government apathy.

But the idea of the home was conceived atop the Monte hill at whose base it stands. For it was up above, at the Capela de Nossa Senhora de Piedade, that Father Antonio Joao de Miranda decided to reach out to the old, infirm, destitute, and sick of Margao and provide them with shelter and compassion. "People were dying on the road," says former medical superintendent Dr Lanfredo da Costa.

Hospicio's present medical superintendent, Dr Ira Almeida, recounts how the late priest literally went around with a begging bowl asking for charity. Lore says one person spat in Fr Miranda's 'kotti', says da Costa. Ultimately, he says, the initial funds came from the broader public of South Goa.

"Finally, on December 13, 1867, 'Hospicio do Sagrado Coracao de Maria' was established, as a palliative care centre," says Almeida. In 1977, it was taken over by the Union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu.

Initial operations began with six-odd patients at a small house, where today stands the Clergy Home. The move to the present premises happened later, when Fr Miranda was able to purchase it from the ancestors of Dr Gamberto Costa.

Its reputation soaring, help continued to pour in. Fr Miranda decided it was time to set in place an administration to manage the place. This was the precursor to the powerful and rich trust that eventually came to run the hospital.

About this trust, historian Rafael Viegas says, tongue-in-cheek: "It was one of the three institutes of Margao where rivalries played out."

In its struggles with finances, the administration devised ingenious ways of generating funds. "Initially, they gave loans against gold," says da Costa, while Almeida adds the jackpot was hit after the institute decided to conduct lotteries. That was in 1879. In fact, so successful were these that in the year 1893, they had seven draws! The bounty sustained the hospital through the world wars.

The funds were wisely invested in "banks of Portugal and India, in guilt-edged securities, shares, comunidade shares, property, etc," writes former administrator of Hospicio, J B Antao, in its centenary souvenir.

However, 1942 was a setback year, Antao writes: "The government discontinued the authorization of floating lotteries by Hospicio and instead approved a joint sponsoring of lotteries in collaboration with other similar institutions."

The hospital grew in size and stature, and new wings were added. The hospital's pediatric wing has an interesting story. To build it, Dr Alvaro da Costa used funds generated from a periodical he published.

Its nursing wing, which came to be recognized for its excellence, was started in 1942, after the then bishop brought in Italian missionary nuns from the Maria Bambina
order.

While funds have been a challenge, the guiding spirits of the hospital — its doctors and nurses — ceaselessly and selflessly took the dream of its founding father forward. "In its early years, doctors volunteered their medical assistance," says da Costa.

The only time a mention of Hospicio will evoke a degree of bitterness is when its present condition is brought up. "When you hand a private institution over to the government you destroy it," says Viegas, pointing to the aura of apathy and disrepair that hangs around the once proud institution.