What started as a birthing clinic only for European women is now one of Kolkata’s leading private hospitals. A coffee table book launched to celebrate 77 years of Woodlands offers a peek into the road traversed by the institute.
The book, titled Legacy of Healing, contains the picture above and other pictures that exude old-warm charm. “The hospital stands on the erstwhile property of the Maharaja of Cooch Behar. This large estate stretched from Alipore Road to Diamond Harbour Road and from Sterndale Road (now known as National Library Road) to the Infantry Lines (now Command Hospital) was bought by Cooch Behar in the late 1880s… On September 21, 1950, the Maharaja of Cooch Behar communicated that he was anxious to dispose of his townhouse at Woodlands, known as Woodlands Palace, together with its land,” says the book, authored by Rajiv Soni.
Woodlands Hospital. The Telegraph
“The first idea to set up a hospital was sown on 28th November 1946, when a board of British think tanks... met over a brainstorming session. Initially operated in the name of The East India Clinic Ltd, the organisation looked into the prime medical facilities of the city...,” says the book. The book was launched (right) by Rupali Basu, MD & CEO, Woodlands Hospital, and Soni.