Delek Hospital celebrated its 50th Anniversary on the 4th of October 2022 in the auditorium of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts. Although the hospital’s Golden Jubilee actually fell on the 4th of October 2021 it had to be postponed due to the Covid pandemic.
The President of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) was the chief guest and other important dignitaries included: the Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, Acting Chief Justice of the CTA, other CTA officials, local guests and a representative from various Tibetan institutions.
On this great occasion, the Delek’s Chief Administrator, Dawa Phunkyi, shared a report of the outreach activities of the hospital besides their day-to-day functioning.
The “50-year History of Delek” and a compiled book titled “50 years of Contribution to Science and Health” were inaugurated at the event, followed by felicitations to Dr TsetanSadutshang for his 40 years of service to Delek. Delek administration also honoured four senior staff who had past twenty years of service at Delek.
The following are the compiled speeches (both in Tibetan and English) delivered by Mr. Penpa Tsering – the chief guest; Ven. Sonam Tenphel – speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile; Dr. Zorba Paster – founder of Friends of Tibetan Delek Hospital in the US. Other important dignitaries spoke about Delek and Dr.Tsetan Sadutshang’s lifelong service to the community.
A speech by Dr. Zorba Paster, founder of Friends of Delek Hospital, US
First of all, I want to congratulate Delek on its 50 years of excellence. Let me start with this story. In 1968, when I was much younger, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a friend of mine said ‘you have got to go and listen to this teacher. He is a Tibetan Lama, who is speaking at the University of Wisconsin’. That was Geshe Sopa. Geshe Sopa first came to the University of Wisconsin in 1968 and I took some teachings from him, and I was smitten and really developed an interest, a very strong interest in Tibetan Buddhism.
I went to medical school in Chicago. There was a small book I bought by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Little did I know that I would meet the Dalai Lama. Then in 1976 my wife and I decided to come to India for three months and stayed at the library. It was less busy in those days with less traffic, and we would walk up to McLeod Ganj where there was no traffic on the road, only one street, and listen to His Holiness there. Then we went back to finish my training in Halifax Nova Scotia in Canada and then ultimately decided that we would move back to Madison, Wisconsin to be there with Lama Sopa. His Holiness first decided to go to the US in 1978-79 somewhere around that time. After going to Washington DC, he came to Madison, Wisconsin to see Geshe Sopa and then we arrange for him to speak in a high school auditorium which was only half full. Then in 1981 he came back to Madison to give a Kalachakra ceremony for the first-time outside India, and we were blessed by him staying in our house. This is a long story explaining how I got involved with Delek but bear with me for a minute………… So, we wanted to get the house perfect as His Holiness was coming to our house and everything should be perfect, but we had three kids at that time (now we have four) and they were aged four, three and two. How did we get the house perfect with all those children and the answer is you just stuff everything in the basement and make the house perfect as possibly can be. So, then His Holiness comes into the house and the first thing he does is go into the basement and then he started laughing and he said it’s okay, everything is okay.
When His Holiness came to the US, we would go to see him in various places. On one occasion in New York City, we went to see him and he ask me to become involved in his medical care. So, I became involved in that way, and it became very important to me. So when His Holiness went to speak at Stanford University, I went there and, as I said before with Dr. Tsetan I visited Stanford, Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic and then made a report to His Holiness and it was between Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic, but before we left Johns Hopkins we met with a couple of doctors who asked if there was anything else they could help with, and Dr. Tsetan la said ‘yes, we have lot of tuberculosis’. One of the gentlemen, who had mentioned that Hopkins would love to help Dr. A.M Thompson, was a cardiologist and he went straight across to Dr. Dick Chiasson’s office and said there is a lot of tuberculosis in Tibetan refugees in India. and Dr. Dick Chaisson said ‘ohh I think maybe I will get involved with that’ and sent someone over to Delek Hospital, and that is really how this important collaboration started between Johns Hopkins and Delek Hospital. and the collaboration continues to this day.
I became very interested at that time and around that time Tsetan la said there was no back-up generator at the Hospital and although I didn’t know anything about raising money I thought, maybe I could raise some funds for the backup generator and so started “The Friends of Delek Hospital”. Since then, we have bought an ambulance and other things. But what was really important was that we developed this collaboration with Dawa la the Administrator at the Delek Hospital. We helped him get the UN Stop TB Grant that didn’t come just because we applied for it. There are many institutions all around the world that want this Grant so you have to prove that you are doing good work. However, Delek is a first-class Institution. All you have to do is look at Delek’s ongoing work with COVID, the eradication of COVID, and the immunisation of the Tibetan community, to see this. But the Delek has another aspect that is missing in some medical care, certainly in technological medical care, and that is the compassion of medicine, the art of medicine, that you can see first-hand being given to patients at the Delek. It’s the delivering of compassionate care that is so very, very important when it comes to Delek and I have seen this first hand over the last few days I have spent with Dr. Tsetan la and seen the compassionate care that he and the Delek staff give every single patient .So Delek is more than Grants, its more than Doctors, it’s also the Nurses, it’s the Administration, it’s the Pharmacists, it’s the Dentist, it’s the Laboratory technicians , it’s the support staff. I could go on and on. It’s a world class institution with a heart of gold and each and every person in that institution has played an important role. So as the head of The Friends of Delek Hospital, I want to say that it has been a pleasure and an honour to work with you for all these years and to help you with the continuing work that you are doing now and, in the future, and that networking is so very, very important. Especially through Dr. Kunchok, who originally worked as a physician at the Delek. but then went to America to undertake a PhD in Epidemiology and then to Johns Hopkins.
We hope to follow his work and the work that we hope to help support with regard to the elimination of Tuberculosis in the Tibetan diaspora. So, I wish to thank Delek for being here and congratulations again on your 50th year.
A speech by Dr. Zorba Paster, about Dr. Tsetan Dorji Sadutshang
Tsetan la. He is a remarkable person and I don’t say that lightly. I have had the great karma to accompany him every year to the Mayo Clinic to take care of His Holiness the Dalai lama and to keep the Dalai Lama healthy. I will never forget the first time that we were trying to find a place in the United States for His Holiness. We went to Stanford, we went to Johns Hopkins, and we went to the Mayo Clinic, and Tsetan la said we have to ask them why His Holiness should come to your Institution. They usually say ‘we are exceptional and so you are lucky to have us’ but with regard to His Holiness it was exactly the opposite!
Tsetan la embodies two things: the technological intelligence of medicine and the art of medicine. That is extremely important, you have technology one side, and you have art on the other side and this is what keeps His Holiness the Dalai lama so healthy. Some time ago I was teaching medical students and one of them asked me ‘where do you think medicine is going to go over the next 30 years?’ I replied that there are two things that are going to happen. First of all, the technology is going to change, but the art is going to stay the same. Tsetan la has been the finest doctor that I have ever had the chance to work with, and I have worked with so many physicians over the last 45 years of my medical practice. Tsetanla’s intelligence, his width, his ability to understand medical care, his application of medical care, his teaching of the young Doctors who are at the hospital, his exceptional care for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, are of the highest value. It cannot be higher. he is the pinnacle of all medical care for any physician, so with that, from the bottom of my heart, I congratulate Delek Hospital for having kept him for 40 years! You could not have a better physician. He is the finest physician that there could ever be.
Thank You!
A Speech by Dr. TsetanSadutshang
Your excellency SikyongPenpa Tsering, Speaker of the Tibetan parliament in exile, Kalons and guests.
I would like to just give the gist of what I said in Tibetan in English for the benefit of our guest who don’t understand Tibetan. Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan Delek Hospital’s Founding Day. I want to begin by expressing my gratitude, first of all to His Holiness The Dalai Lama for giving me the opportunity to serve him; my teachers for the knowledge I have gained until now; my late parents for what I am and for all that I have; my wife Tsepal and my children for their constant support; the Delek Hospital and all the staff and patients who have support me so much.
Last but not least I want to acknowledge two of my long-term dearest friends Dr. Zorba and Dawa Phunkyi who have always stood by me. Zorba has been a great support when taking care of His Holiness’s health over many years and Dawa la has worked with me for 35 years. A man of unshakeable integrity and honesty who has steered Delek to where it stands now. I am privileged to have contributed to the evolution of Delek Hospital. To carry it to the status it enjoys today, providing the highest quality of affectionate, compassionate, and professional care. We have a caring system that defies conventional boundaries of algorithms, guidelines, and medical knowledge, and creates abundant space for compassionate, loving care in all the facets of service we provide. I have been fortunate to work with numerous Doctors from many countries that have helped me to broaden my outlook on different approaches to patient care and work culture. My frequent travels and associations with many of the best-known hospitals in India and abroad allowed me to nurture a wide network of senior consultants in many specialities. These opportunities also allowed me to access expertise for patients who otherwise would not easily obtain it on their own.
In Delek we have developed a unique system of care that goes beyond the confines of our Institute, entailing follow up of our patients after referral to other hospitals, to ensure that they receive the highest quality care until their condition becomes stable. Throughout the past nearly 40 years of my life here, my greatest joy has been practising clinical medicine, combined with public health activities that stretch from Tuberculosis control and mental health care for torture victims to integrating Tibetan medicine with modern medicine, as well as teaching compassionate medicine and playing an advisory role to our Health Department. My long association with Traditional Tibetan medicine has weaned me away from the disease approach to a more personalised and holistic approach and taught me the benefits of another system that can fill the needs of patients where modern medicine is inadequate. It is my wish that as long as my health allows, I will continue to serve His Holiness the Dalai Lama and benefit anyone who needs my help in whatever way possible. I will continue to inspire, nurture and guide young medical professionals into becoming competent, loving and kind-hearted individuals.
Thank you and Tashi Delek!
A Speech by SikyongPenpa Tsering la
If I may switch to English, I want to recognise the presence of Dr. Zorba here, whom I have known only for a very short period since my tenure as the Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Washington DC. In that one year His Holiness was supposed to visit three times. That didn’t happen but His Holiness did visit one time and at that time Dr. Tsetan introduce me to Dr. Zorba and then we were in touch. If I remember the name correctly one of your assistants Miss. Nurgath yes Miss Nurgath – so I am not that old. my memory is still okay! – was also responsible, whenever His Holiness went to the Mayo Clinic for a physical check up every year. Dr. Zorba was responsible, along with Dr. Tsetan la, to coordinate with all the respective doctors, and departments which made my life much easier as the Representative of His Holiness. We don’t even have to take care of the motorcade because they are all used to the system, they are all used to the procedures that are in place. So Dr. Zorba has played a very important part I think. He is a very blessed person, if you take it from a Tibetan perspective, to be so close to His Holiness and to be able to look after his health which is the most important thing for the Tibetans and for many people around the world. I really appreciate your service and I consider you as a very fortunate person to be able to be so close to His Holiness.
I also want to thank Mr. Ajay ji and his friends here from the Dharamsala Rotary Club. Rotary has always played a very significant and crucial role in catering to people who are under privileged or who need more attention. I do know that Dawa Phunkyi la has been very proactively engaged with the Rotary Club and you have together over many years organised lots of programmes. I thank you for that and I wish you to continue with this association and relationship into the future.
I can also see lots of people who have been supporting the Delek Hospital in the audience. One reason why Delek Hospital still runs very well, apart from the very good administration, are the donors, without whom it would be very difficult to make this institution run because we run mostly charitable institutions, and it is not meant for making money when it’s charity, but we also need charity from others to support these charitable activities here and I really wish to thank all the donors who are listed in this book from the very beginning of this institution until now. People who have contributed in large amounts or small amounts it doesn’t matter, your heart matters, your love and your care for the Tibetan people is very much valued and I take this opportunity to thank all the donors. all the supporters, all the friends, all the doctors and nurses who have come to Delek Hospital for internship and short-term duration services from other countries as well.
So, thank you very much!
A speech by Mr. Ajay Sharma
(President Rotary Club Dharamshala)
I feel proud and honoured to be here at this celebration of Delek Hospital. I feel fortunate that we are friends. Rotary and Delek are one family, as you know Rotary serving the community in different projects, in the same way Delek Hospital is serving the community for the past 50 years and I congratulate Mr. Dawa the Administrator of Delek Hospital and the Central Tibetan Administration who have been serving the community with dedication. With the blessings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Delek Hospital, has been serving the people of Dharamshala since 1971. The Delek Hospital has 45 beds serving Inpatients, providing facilities like ECG, Laboratory tests, X-ray, Pharmacy and a Dental Clinic. Delek Hospital is associated with Rotary Club, Dharamshala in providing eye care services to the community, not only to the Tibetan Community, but to all the Indian community also. Free Camps are being organised by Delek Hospital in association with AOCA, Association of Ophthalmic Cooperation in Asia.
Rotary feels that Delek Hospital is part and parcel of Rotary. Delek Hospital also provides extensive care to TB patients, as they have a separate TB Outpatients and Inpatients. Their valuable services have been recognised by the National TB Control Programme. Delek Hospital is committed to serving all those who come to them. They treat patients in a compassionate and peaceful manner, providing them with the finest treatment. I, on behalf of the Rotary family, thank Dawa ji from the bottom of our hearts as he is associated with Rotary and personally associated with me for the last 20 years. He has been a very positive and hardworking Administrator and has always inspired us. Thanking you for your concern and supportive nature. Once again, I express my gratitude to His Holiness the Dalai Lama Ji and management of Delek Hospital for giving me an opportunity to share my feelings about the services being rendered by this Hospital to the community. Wishing all the best to Delek Hospital and the Central Tibetan Administration and thanking you once again Delek Hospital for being with Rotary.