Vadu HDSS

Vadu Rural Health Program (VRHP) functions with a mission “to Provide evidence-based, sustainable and rational health care solutions for the rural population using globally relevant community-based ethical research” is a division of KEM Hospital Research Centre Pune and has a rich tradition in health care service delivery. In the forefront is also a needs-based, issue-driven research over almost 40 years. Dr. Banoo Coyaji, in early decades of 1970, realized the dearth of good health care facilities in Vadu area during an epidemic of diarrhea. She started delivery of primary health services with a team of few doctors from KEMH Pune in a small then Govt run Primary Health Unit at Vadu. This eventually grew to become a long lasting private public partnership with the government and an internationally renowned research Centre in itself.

The base of VRHP is formed by the Shirdi Sai Baba Rual Hospital (SSH), today a fully private rural hospital that was started as a result of the public private partnership between KEMH Pune as NGO, the State Government and the Central Government in 1986 all investing 30% of the share each to bring up this 30 bed hospital. The Shamdasani Foundation (UK and Hongkong) offered the 30% share of the KEMH to this partnership and due to their faith on Shirdi Sai baba, the hospital was named thus. This partnership that continued up to 1998 had an arrangement where the State Government used to reimburse the deficit of running SSH to the KEMH every year.