Events & Personalities
Leading in nursing care
"This is the first time a postgraduate level nursing curriculum on human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is developed and rolled out in India,” notes an email to Parsiana from Tehmurasp Sakloth, general secretary of the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), Maharashtra State Branch. He was referring to the pioneering syllabus developed at the 
Bel-Air Nursing College, Panchgani, a unit of that Branch. The College completed 10 years of operation this August (see "Enhancing nursing,” Parsiana, February 7, 2008).
Bel-Air Hospital, of which the College is a part, was founded by Dr Rustom Billimoria. The complex comprises 58 blocks sprawled over 44 acres of land donated by Sir Dorabji Tata. "On the unfortunate and premature death of his son Dr Bomi, Rustom requested the Red Cross to run Bel-Air,” notes Kersi Gherda, chairman of the Branch, in an email to Parsiana. The College "has been doing extremely well and qualified nurses have been absorbed by prominent hospitals,” he adds. Corporate executive Homi Khusrokhan serves as vice chairman of the Branch.
Three courses are offered at the College — graduation and post graduation in nursing, and a two-year free diploma course in nursing funded by the Lila Poonawala Foundation for women from underprivileged families. Interest free education loans are available under central government schemes from public sector banks.
Sr Lourdu Nagothu, principal of the College and director of nursing at the 250-bed Hospital, will be recognized for her efforts in developing the pioneering syllabus with a Global HIV Award from the American Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) on November 4, 2017, in Dallas, Texas, in conjunction with ANAC’s annual conference.
Bel-Air Nursing College, Panchgani, a unit of that Branch. The College completed 10 years of operation this August (see "Enhancing nursing,” Parsiana, February 7, 2008). Bel-Air Hospital, of which the College is a part, was founded by Dr Rustom Billimoria. The complex comprises 58 blocks sprawled over 44 acres of land donated by Sir Dorabji Tata. "On the unfortunate and premature death of his son Dr Bomi, Rustom requested the Red Cross to run Bel-Air,” notes Kersi Gherda, chairman of the Branch, in an email to Parsiana. The College "has been doing extremely well and qualified nurses have been absorbed by prominent hospitals,” he adds. Corporate executive Homi Khusrokhan serves as vice chairman of the Branch.
Three courses are offered at the College — graduation and post graduation in nursing, and a two-year free diploma course in nursing funded by the Lila Poonawala Foundation for women from underprivileged families. Interest free education loans are available under central government schemes from public sector banks.
Sr Lourdu Nagothu, principal of the College and director of nursing at the 250-bed Hospital, will be recognized for her efforts in developing the pioneering syllabus with a Global HIV Award from the American Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) on November 4, 2017, in Dallas, Texas, in conjunction with ANAC’s annual conference.
Top: Bust of Dr Rustom Billimoria; Above: Bel-Air Nursing College: a decade of training caregivers;
inset: Sr Lourdu Nagothu (left) and Fr Tomy K
In the IRCS conference room next to the Town Hall, Nagothu and Fr Tomy K, director of both the College and the Hospital, informed Parsiana that the new syllabus that was under development ("with all the necessary approvals from the regulatory bodies”) for three years, was worked on in collaboration with the University of Illinois, Chicago. Tomy has served as chairman of the National AIDS Control Project. "HIV/AIDS is the new tuberculosis,” says Tomy, referring both to the stigma associated with the condition as well as the establishment of Bel-Air Hospital as a sanatorium by Rustom Billimoria in 1912 for patients recovering from tuberculosis.
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From the archive