Akal Charitable Hospital
A multi-specialty hospital at Baru Sahib providing free and low-cost healthcare to a rural, hilly population that would otherwise travel for hours to reach a doctor — born from two doctors turning a langar-hall basement into an operating theatre in 1990.
1987
Seva began in a Langar Hall basement
100-bed
Multi-specialty hospital
45,000+
OPD patients treated free, annually
265+
Patients operate free in 4-5 multi surgical camps
From a langar-hall basement to a multi-specialty hospital
In 1987, Dr. Davinder Singh Ji (MBBS, MD) and Dr. Neelam Kaur (MBBS, MS) left established careers in Delhi for the remote hills of Himachal Pradesh, guided by Sant Baba Iqbal Singh Ji. What they found was a population cut off from basic healthcare — some patients travelling over 65 km from villages like Nohradhar and Chopal in hope of relief. With little more than faith and determination, they turned the basement of the Langar Hall at Baru Sahib into makeshift operation theatres and OPDs, managing eye surgeries, obstetric and gynaecological care, and even trauma cases with scarce resources.
That basement has since grown into Akal Charitable Hospital — a purpose-built, 100-bed multi-specialty facility that is the only fully developed medical centre in the rural setting of Sirmaur district, serving a 100 km radius entirely free of cost or at nominal charges for those who can pay something.
“We only have what we give.”
What the hospital offers
Around 450 patients are seen at the OPD each day, alongside round-the-clock emergency care.
| General & Emergency Medicine | Surgery | Gynaecology & Obstetrics |
| Paediatrics | Orthopaedics | ENT |
| Cardiology | Ophthalmology | Dental Care |
| Physiotherapy | Psychiatry & De-Addiction (female unit) | Pathology, X-Ray & Ultrasound |
A regional distinction: Akal Charitable Hospital is the only hospital in the area treating rural snake-bite cases with the necessary — and expensive — antivenin, a service most nearby facilities cannot afford to stock.
Four decades of free medical camps
Alongside its regular OPD and IPD services, the hospital has run a free multi-specialty medical and surgical camp roughly four times a year since the early 1990s.
109+
Free Medical & Surgical Camps held since the early 1990s
2,000+
Surgeries performed across the camp series
45,000+
Patients served with free consultations, medicines and diagnostics
Who the hospital reaches
Patients and their families travel across difficult hill terrain — some over 65 km — to reach Baru Sahib from villages including Nohradhar, Sangraha, Habban, Rajgarh, Haripurdhar, Chopal, Renuka, Kupvi, Jubbal and Kotkhai, spanning Sirmaur, Shimla and Solan districts, for treatment that would otherwise cost far more than they could afford.
- Doctors have travelled from Delhi, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Patiala and Jalandhar to volunteer at camps
- International volunteers have included Operation Rainbow Canada, which performed 100+ free plastic surgeries in 2010
- The hospital is the parent institution of Akal College of Nursing, Eternal University
- Its psychiatry and de-addiction unit is covered by the Trust’s separate de-addiction and rehabilitation program
Testimonials
Support free healthcare for rural Himachal
Donations fund treatment, medicines and equipment for patients who cannot otherwise afford care; healthcare professionals are welcome to volunteer at the hospital’s free medical camps. Full details, donation options and contact information are on the hospital’s own site.