CMC Vellore’s Missions Network is made up of 168 hospitals that serve India’s rural areas.

Friends of Vellore UK have been instrumental in promoting CMC’s work amongst smaller mission hospitals in India. We began by funding the first three years of the Mission Network Consultant post at CMC which has now been absorbed into CMC’s ongoing budget and sits within a recently created Missions Department.

CMC are committed to helping these much lower resourced hospitals. Staff in the department build links with mission hospitals who might benefit from a partnership with CMC. They raise the profile of mission hospitals within CMC, encouraging more to serve in this way, in particular through their annual conference for students: Shiloh. The team support CMC undergraduates and postgraduates working in over 20 mission hospitals on short- or long-term placements.

A significant number of mission hospitals have asked to establish some form of operational partnership with CMC so that the high level of trust and credibility of CMC can be transferred to these hospitals. This will ease the very high workload of CMC and help sick people to be confident of the care they could receive more locally. This sounds exciting but in reality there are enormous legal, funding, governance and operational challenges to be worked through.

The first mission Memorandum of Understanding between CMC and CSI Erode Hospital was signed at the January 2016 Council meeting. This marked the beginning of a new direction in mission renewal initiatives for CMC.

More recently, CMC have responded to the need at Kotagiri Medical Fellowship Hospital (KMF). This is about 7 hours drive to the west of Vellore. CMC have sent several doctors to work there and have many Trustees on the Board. The hospital has been growing steadily, with improved services and increasing patient numbers. New staff have joined and gradually the locals are gaining confidence in using the patient services.

In 2019 Friends of Vellore UK sent £30,000 to enable them to purchase much needed equipment for their lab, which they have named after Ms Monica Sutton. Monica Sutton, a British missionary and lab technician, along with Vera Nowell, a pharmacist from England were the pioneering founders of what is now KMF.

In 2021 we were able to support 8 mission hospitals with funds raised through our Covid appeal. These funds were used to purchase oxygen generators and other Covid equipment, as well as funding ICU upgrades. We also sent a grant of £10,000 to Baptist Christian Hospital Tezpur to enable them to build a chatram. This is a simple place to stay for patients and their families who’ve travelled long distances for treatment.

In 2022 we sent funds to Chinchpada Christian Hospital in Maharashtra to enable them to buy lab equipment. In 2023 we sent a grants for an effluent treatment plant at Karigiri Hospital, Schieffelin Institute of Health, an oxygen plant at Evangelical Hospital Khariar, a women’s hostel at Asha Kiran Hospital Lamtaput and an ambulance at Christian Hospital Berhampur.

Today, fewer healthcare professionals are keen to work in mission hospitals. Those that do offer to go have either a strong calling from God, a passion for social justice or a reason to keep the flame burning in their local area. However, CMC are working hard to raise the profile of this most important work and encouraging staff to consider getting involved.