“There are a few who are ready to set up institutions to provide free facilities for the poor. Therefore, from the start we decided to set up a hundred crore (1 billion Rupees) hospital near Prasanthi Nilayam. Even as higher education is free here, higher medicine also will be free. People spend some lakhs to get heart surgery done in the U.S. What is the plight of the poor? Who looks after them? If they go to the cities, they will not get even basic medicine. Recognising this fact, we have launched this big hospital project. Whether it is a heart bypass operation, or a lung operation or brain surgery or eye surgery, everything will be done for free. This has been decided upon from the very start of the project. The hospital will be opened on November 22, 1991.” 

-- Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba 

23.11.1990

Commemorating the 100th Birthday of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, a Global conference on Sri Sathya Sai Ideal Healthcare, was conducted at Prasanthi Nilayam Ashram under the aegis of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust. 

“Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s Healthcare model is crucial for this country, with nearly 300 million people unable to afford a square meal a day. If they struggle for food, how can they even consider visiting a hospital? That’s the gap Bhagawan’s mission fills, serving those in desperate need,” the Managing Trustee of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, Sri RJ Rathnakar, said. He was speaking during the valedictory session of the “Global Conference on Sri Sathya Sai Ideal Healthcare” organised by the Sri Sathya Sai Hospitals under the aegis of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust to commemorate the 100th Birthday of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The two-day conference from June 28th to 29th saw the attendance of around 600 delegates from India and abroad. The conference was organised in the state-of-the-art Sai Hira Convention Centre at Prasanthi Nilayam.  

“Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba created the Sri Sathya Sai Hospitals as beacons of hope for those with no alternatives. As the healthcare system becomes more corporatised and insurance-driven, it is essential to have institutions that successfully run on selfless service. Swami started this mission to show that it is possible,” Sri Rathnakar added.

He affirmed that with Bhagawan Baba’s Grace, even after Swami’s Mahasamadhi, all the institutions of Bhagawan Baba are going strong. “We should all realise that it is Bhagawan Baba, even now, who is running these medical institutions. “And these institutions will run forever”, he added.  

Speaking about the role of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust in Bhagawan Baba’s healthcare mission, Sri Rathnakar said that often hospitals have specific requirements for equipment, and even if these cost more, we provide what is needed. Our only expectation is the best possible healthcare for patients—the true stakeholders.

Observing that the conference had been fruitful and would strengthen Bhagawan’s Medical Mission, Sri Rathnakar shared an anecdote of Bhagawan Baba. “When someone asked Swami what the reward for service was, Swami replied: more service. That is the blessing—more opportunities to serve. We should all remember this always,” he said. “By Swami’s grace, we will go from strength to strength”, he concluded.

Earlier, the proceedings of the conference started with an Inaugural session organised on the morning of June 28th, 2025, in the Sai Kulwant Hall.

In the inaugural session, the Director of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Whitefield, Bengaluru, said that the objective of the conference was to spread awareness about the various aspects of Bhagawan Baba’s healthcare mission. Further, to encourage more and more people to participate in this healthcare mission and also to inspire them to emulate this model of healthcare in their own environments. His talk was followed by a talk by Sri S S Naganand, the Trustee of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust and Senior Supreme Court Advocate. He reminisced about how the all-knowing Bhagawan Himself would take care of every aspect of running the hospitals, be it finances or be it medical guidance to the doctors and surgeons. Speaking about the ever-expanding care of Bhagawan, Sri Naganand said that like the Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital in Puttaparthi, there are now Swami’s mobile hospitals in almost all parts of India serving patients.  

The conference was divided into four thematic sessions:  

Keynote Address: The keynote address for the conference was delivered by Lt Gen Dr. Madhuri Kanitkar, who is the Vice Chancellor, Maharashtra University of Health Science a member of Prime Minister's Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council. During her address, Dr. Kanitkar referred to the healthcare system in the country to be 'ill' and said that from this illness, we need to go towards 'wellness'. This wellness, she said, will come only when adequate changes are brought about in medical education to rekindle passion among medical students to serve. “It’s only when we collectively work together, we move towards wellness," she said.

Session 1: His Work: The Divine Heartbeat of Temples of Healing. This session focused on educating the audience about the exemplary service being performed by Bhagawan Baba’s five hospitals in Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, and Medical outreach. The session saw talks by Dr. Anil Kumar Mulpur, Joint Director of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram, Dr. U Uma from the Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital, and Dr. Sumit Thaker from SSSIHMS, Bengaluru, among others. This was followed by a video documentary about the medical outreach by the Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital. These talks were followed by a presentation by Dr. Gurava Reddy, Managing Director, KIMS-Sunshine Hospitals, on Embracing the Human Side of Healthcare and a talk by Padmashree Awardee  Dr.Ramana Rao, Consultant Physician and Cardiologist on the right of every human being to good healthcare. 

The highlight of the session was a panel discussion on ‘Delivering Sai Ideal Healthcare’, which saw senior surgeons and physicians from Sri Sathya Sai Hospitals sharing their experiences about working in Bhagawan Baba's hospitals and how the concept of Sai Ideal Healthcare is transforming lives. Dr. Gurumurthy, Director of SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, Dr. Neelam Desai, Senior Consultant, CTVS, SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, Dr. Rita Varyani, Head of Department of Cardiology, SSSIHMS, Whitefield, Dr Varsha V Shah, Honorary Consultant CTVS, Sri Sathya Sai Heart Hospital, Rajkot, were among the panellists. 

Session 2: His Work: Beyond Boundaries – The Ever-Expanding Care Continuum: This session concentrated on patient care beyond the boundaries of the five healthcare institutions of Bhagawan Baba. This session’s inaugural talk about delivered by Dr. V Mohan, the Trustee of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, who spoke about the causes, prevention and management of diabetes. Dr. Mohan also shared an anecdote about his interaction with Bhagawan Baba on the topic of diabetes.  According to Dr. Mohan, he and his team were writing a research paper on the causes of diabetes. Bhagawan Baba then asked him about the main cause of diabetes. While Dr. Mohan put forth some answers, Swami simply answered that it was white rice. “When I told my researchers to check the data again with a focus on incidence of diabetes among people consuming white rice, we found there was a clear correlation as pointed out by Bhagawan,” Dr Mohan said. This session also saw presentations by office bearers of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations. Dr. Sathya Swaroop Patnaik, State President of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation (SSSSO), Odisha, spoke about how Telemedicine is helping patients of Sai Hospitals in far-flung areas. This was followed by a talk by Sri Amit Dubey on the Sai Rehabilitation Programme. An outreach programme run by the Sri Sathya Sai Institutes of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram and Whitefield, where constant follow-up is done for the Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery patients of both the hospitals by the volunteers of the SSSSO in 13 states of India. Their talks were followed by a presentation by Dr. Prakash Khanchandani, Head of Orthopaedics, SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, about academics at the Sri Sathya Sai Hospitals. He delineated how the trainees at the Sai Hospitals, apart from gaining deep insights and hands-on training in their subjects, also receive the soft skills of empathy, patient communication, and work ethic, which make them better physicians when they leave the portals of the hospital. The talk was followed by a panel discussion about the Impact, Challenges and Opportunities of the Care Continuum, moderated by Dr. Anil Kumar Mulpur, Joint Director of SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram.  

 On the second day, Session 3 and 4 focused on the transformation taking place in the Healthcare sector with the changing technology and the unmatched service being performed by the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation in India and abroad, respectively.  

Session 3: Scaling Heights: Transforming Healthcare through Innovation and Technology

In the first session, the speakers discussed the new and emerging technologies like AI and innovation in information technology and their impact on healthcare. In the first talk, Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan, a renowned computer scientist from Arizona State University, mentioned that in the current scenario, AI was influencing every aspect of healthcare, from enhancing medical images to automating routine tasks and identifying clinical abnormalities. “The best technological solutions are designed with a focus on humanity, ethics, and responsible implementation. Technology should always serve people, learning from human interaction to improve lives. This co-evolution of humans and machines allows both to achieve greater things together,” he added.

This was followed by talks by Heads of the Department of IT of both SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram and Whitefield namely Sri S Kannan and Sri M Subramanium who discussed the positive impact IT has had on the processes of healthcare delivery in both the hospitals and how the centralisation of IT infrastructure among the Sai hospitals has led to better coordination and thereby making the healthcare delivery more efficient. Two panel discussions followed the talks in which the panellists debated the ‘Harnessing of new and emerging Medical Technologies and the various medical technologies at the Sai Hospitals’.

Session 4:  Serving with Synergy: Uniting Hands for a Healthier Tomorrow

In the final academic session, Dr. Geeta Kamat, Chair, Medical Committee, Zone-1, SSSGC talked about the various projects taken up by the Sri Sathya Sai Global Council, while Dr. Ram Manohar Rao, National Medical Coordinator of SSSSO, on the other hand, made a presentation about the overall medical activities of the SSSSO, India. The National Service Coordinator of SSSSO, Sri Koteshwar Rao the spoke about the topic of ‘Divyangjan Seva’, in which he delineated how the intervention of the SSSSO has helped many physically challenged persons regain their lost mobility. An interesting aspect of the medical service of SSSSO was highlighted by Dr. Sanjay Aggarwal, Zonal President (North), SSSSO, in his talk, in which he informed the audience how the SSSSO has revived a hospital in the remote Ladakh region and also started medical services activities in the far-flung Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Other topics discussed in the session included programmes about Mother and Childcare in the state of Madhya Pradesh, Volunteer Blood Donation Programme, ‘Liquid Love’, and Mobile medical assistance through Eye Care Vans in various states of India.

Post the valedictory session by Sri RJ Rathnakar, the conference concluded with the National Anthem and Mangal Arati to Bhagawan Baba. 

During bhajans, with moist eyes, I poured out a heartfelt prayer:

“Swami, I am attending your bhajan. I am neither asking You to write my exam, nor dictate the questions to me, but O’ dear Creator of the Universe, please create a little time, so I may complete the syllabus.”

On returning, my friends welcomed me with unexpected news:
“Your Swami has postponed the exams by a month!”

Overwhelmed, I stood still, unable to utter a word.

In that moment, I understood that time itself bends at His will. Those hours were not wasted but unknowingly invested and returned with abundant grace.

Months later, during seva in Puttaparthi, Swami Himself referred to the wedding and exams, during an interview, proclaiming, 'Swami sab jaanta! '.

Swami continues to guide and protect me, not only as a doctor, but also as a seeker. I bow to my eternal Master with love and gratitude. 

Ramanjinamma, a 55-year-old, had badly worn-out knees and had been left almost immobile due to a severe deformity of her left leg. She underwent total knee replacement for both her knees at the Orthopaedic Department of SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram. There was a time when Ramanjinamma could hardly stand. A family acquaintance then suggested that they visit SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, where advanced treatment is provided totally free of charge for all.

According to Dr. Prakash Khanchandani, the Head of Department of the Department of Orthopaedics, SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, Ramanjinamma had chronic osteoarthritis in both her knees, a condition in which the cartilage of joint degenerates over time. In the case of Ramanjinamma, the degeneration of her knees was severe, especially in her left knee, which developed a Valgus Deformity in which her left knee bent 45 degrees outwards.  This severely hampered her movements and her day-to-day chores; more so, she could not afford the expensive treatment for the same at her native place.

Bilateral staged total knee replacements were done for her, and after these complex surgeries, she has happily gone back to her normal life and is performing her routine duties as she was able to 9 years earlier.

Ramanjinamma profusely thanks Bhagawan Baba and the hospital Baba built for giving a new life to patients like her.

RARE PHOTOGRAPH OF BHAGAWAN BABA IN THE HOSPITAL