Bangle ceremonies and floral tributes to Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy, India’s first woman surgeon in a government hospital marked the Hospital Day celebration that coincided with the 133rd birth anniversary of Dr. Reddy on Tuesday.
The Government Headquarters Hospital in Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga Government Medical College Hospital had organised various functions, including bangle ceremonies on the occasion and presented gifts to young mothers.
Addressing a function organised at the Sivaganga Government Medical College Hospital, Collector J.Jayakanthan paid glowing tributes to Dr.Reddy, stating she was not only the first surgeon but educator, law maker and social reformer and fought against gender inequality.
Born in Pudukkottai in 1886, Dr.Reddy was the first Indian girl student in the Department of Surgery at Madras Medical College. She became the country’s first woma doctor in 1912 and the first woman house surgeon in the Government Maternity Hospital, Madras, he said.
Dr. P. K. Jawaharlal, Hospital Superintendent, Government Headquarters Hospital, Ramanathapuram, addressed a function organised at the hospital and paid tributes to Dr. Reddy. Senior staff presented gifts to young mothers at the bangle ceremony organised at the hospital.
The objective of celebrating Hospital Day was to showcase the facilities, achievements, new initiatives and lifesaving surgeries performed in hospitals and get elected representatives to participate in the development of the hospital, officials said. It was also to recognise the contributions made by donors and encourage doctors, nurses and staff to be fully involved in the daily activities of the hospital, they added.
