Sankara Nethralaya is a not-for-profit missionary institution for ophthalmic care (i.e., an eye hospital) headquartered in Chennai, India. In the name "Sankara Nethralaya", "Sankara" is a reference to Lord Shiva and "Nethralaya" means "The Temple of the Eye". Sankara Nethralaya receives patients from India and abroad. Sankara Nethralaya has over 1000 employees and serves around 1500 patients per day, performing over 100 surgeries per day. The annual revenue as per the taxes is close to US$100 million.
Sankara Nethralaya was rated among the top four ophthalmic institutions worldwide in 2020 by Newsweek. Nani A. Palkivala, former Indian ambassador to United States, described Sankara Nethralaya as the "Best managed charitable organization in India".
History
In 1976 when addressing a group of doctors, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, the Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam spoke of the need to create a hospital. Under the leadership of Sengamedu Srinivasa Badrinath, a group of philanthropists founded a charitable not-for-profit eye hospital.
On Vinayaka Chaturthi, 6 September 1978, considered an auspicious day, the hospital came into existence. It was named Sankara Nethralaya, which means "The Temple of the Eye". In a function held at the premises of the Vijaya Hospital with Semmangudi Srinivasa Aiyer offering the prayer, T. Agarwal inaugurated the project.
Currently, Sankara Nethralaya has five locations in Chennai and has services at Mukundapur in Kolkata, Rameshwaram and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, Guwahati in Assam and has plans to expand in more states and possibly other countries.
Sankara Nethralaya has various fellowships in ophthalmology such as vitreo retina, glaucoma, cornea, and so forth and also has various fellowships and certificate courses in optometry such as binocular vision, vision therapy, contact lens, low vision, and so forth.
Bachelor of Optometry (B.Optom) courses are run here in collaboration with SASTRA University, Tanjavur.
B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT), Master of Optometry (M.Optom) courses are run here affiliated to Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Chennai.
Expansion
Sankara Nethralaya has been branching out very fast recently. Apart from the five centres in Chennai and in Kolkata and Rameswaram, the hospital is now present in Bengaluru, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand as TTD Sri Srinivasa Sankara Nethralaya and mobile eye surgical unit. The Medical Research Foundation focuses on providing "world-class eye care, community services, research and education -- broadly recognized as the four pillars of the Foundation." In January 2020, it was reported that the hospital collection crossed Rs. 200 crores (Rs 2000 million) for the first time, according to its annual report. In 2018–19, the number of free surgeries in the FY 2018-19 was 22,810—some 36% of total surgeries. It has Mobile Eye Surgery Units in three Indian states—Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand, which have conducted some 4520 totally free cataract surgeries in different villages across the three states.
Branches
Sankara Nethralaya Main Campus
C. U. Shah Sankara Nethralaya
JKCN
Navasuja Sankara Nethralaya
Sankara Nethralaya Super Speciality Clinic (SNSSC) Aditya Birla Sankara Nethralaya, Mukundapur, Kolkata kamalnayan Bajaj Sankara Nethralaya, New Town, Kolkata Mobile Eye Surgical Unit, Tatanagar, Jharkhand
Sankara Nethralaya Optometry Clinic, Olympia Tech Park, Chennai
Sankara Nethralaya, Rameshwaram
Sri Srinivasa Sankara Nethralaya, Tirupati
Community ophthalmology
The Jaslok Community Ophthalmic Centre at Sankara Nethralaya offers free services to economically weaker sections.
International patients
Apart from receiving patients from all over the country, Sankara Nethralaya renders service to international patients including the US, UK and Bangladesh. Bangladesh was reported as having topped the number of foreign patients at the Chennai branch of Sankara Nethralaya. Yearly, some 56,000 Bangladeshi patients arrived in Chennai for eye care at Sankara Nethralaya, accounting for some 60% of all patients in the hospital. The tertiary ophthalmic hospital, provides treatment to patients particularly from South Asia—Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan; Africa—Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, among other countries; and the Middle East including UAE and Oman.