The 60-bed hospital carries out urgent surgeries such as appendectomies and has a laboratory to analyse blood tests. Again, 60 percent of patients are non-estate people from surrounding villages who pay a small consultation fee. The premium has provided an ultrasound scanner for pregnant mothers and x-ray machines to diagnose fractures. All this reduces the need for patients to seek treatment at the hospital in Ooty, some 23km and an hour away by bus, except for estate people who are taken by ambulance. Waterborne diseases are endemic to the region so workers and their families have benefitted from free hepatitis B and typhoid vaccinations and children have blood tests every six months.
