Vaastu : HOSPITAL COMPLEXES

Surgery in
Ancient India

In
ancient India,
medicine had acquired the highest degree of proficiency. Indian medicine
(Ayurveda) dealt with the subject in totality. It described the structure of
the body, its organs, its ligaments, muscles, vessels and tissues. Ancient
Hindus excelled in surgery too. The ancient medical man most mentioned is the
great Dhanawantri. Sushruta, Charaka and others down the line were bold and
skilful in their surgery. They conducted amputations, arrested bleedings by
pressure, bandage or boiling oil, performed operations in the abdomen and
uterus, curved hernia, fistula and piles, set broken bones and dislocations and
could deftly remove foreign substances from the body.

The
great surgeon Sushruta is said to have advised dissection of dead bodies to a
student of surgery and stressed the importance of knowledge gained from
experiment and observation. The ancient medical men of India were the
first to establish hospitals and for the centuries, they were the only ones to
maintain them. Speaking about a hospital in Pataliputra - of King Chandragupta
II, Fa Hein, a Chinese traveler, stated in his memoirs that all poor and
helpless patients that came there were taken excellent care of. Food and
medicine were provided according to their needs and a doctor was in constant
attendance.

Modern Hospital

A
modern hospital provides health care to the people, both preventive and
curative. The hospital is a organization that has to function as a group of
teams. The teams can be broadly classified as:

1.     
Patient care
team consisting of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, medico-social workers and
dieticians,

2.     
Investigative
team consisting of lab technicians, radiology technicians, nurses,
pathologists, micro-biologists,

3.     
bio-chemists and
radiologists and

4.     
Supportive
team consisting of maintenance and house-keeping staff, transport staff, aides
and helpers.

Basically,
each hospital has two departments

a)     
one for
outpatients

b)     
and the other,
for inpatients.

The
outpatient department is defined as a regular part of the hospital with
scheduled part of working with medical and other staff to provide care for
patients who are not registered as inpatients. The outpatients services can be
preventive. Promotive, curative, follow-up and rehabilitative. The OPD also
includes family welfare services, health, medical, para-medical and nursing
services.

The
inpatient department is defined as another part of the hospital, which allows
the patients to stay in the hospital, which allows the patients to stay in the
hospital for days together with medical and other staff providing total care
for the patients. The operation theatres, major

and minor, are
important segments of a hospital. These have to be segregated from other
departments. It is necessary to understand the concept of protective,
dirt-free, aseptic and disposal zones. Other blocks consist of premature units
(neo-natals and nursing new-borns) and pharmacy.

A
modern hospital also needs to have laboratories, which consist of clinical
pathology, micro-biology, bio-chemistry, hematology and histo-pathology
sections. Here, provision for waiting rooms and toilets have to be made. They
also need radiology (X-ray rooms etc.) departments. Of course, due provision
for a central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD), casualty, generator rooms,
kitchen/canteen,stores, laundry, workshops, garages, mortuary, residential
campus and community center can be made.

Application of
Vaastu

The
planning begins with locating a proper site. The basic considerations, of course,
will be to select the site near main roads. This way, the accessibility to the
hospital will be good.

a)     
North-east
sites are ideal for hospitals. But if corner sites are not available East and
North-facing sites are recommended. Many a time, there are also not available
and you may be forced to go in for a West or South facing site.

b)     
A West-facing
site may be preferred to South-facing one. Do not despair if you get a
South-facing site. Vastu can be applied judiciously to get the sites the needed
balance.

Proper
orientation to the cardinal directions is definitely recommended. A site that
has all sites equal, would be ideal. In a square, all the primary elements of
nature --- udaka (water), gagana (space), pavana(air), dahana(agni) and prithvi
(earth) are well balanced. If a rectangular site is selected, a length not more
than twice the breadth may be chosen.

Once
the site is selected, the planning of the structure begins. Allow a minimum of
one-ninth of the site free on all four sites. This can be used for movement of
traffic, trolleys and stretchers. This one-ninth relates to the Paisacha or
non-habitable zone of the site.

The
basement can be for car and other vehicle parking.

The
ground floor can consist of the chairman's room, pharmacy, reception, and the
casualty (or emergency) department. The minor operation theatre, the ECG,
audiometry, X-ray and physiotherapy rooms, the consultation rooms are also
provided at the ground floor. The laundry, the kitchen/canteen, the clinical
lab, the ultrasound room, the generator and plant room, the laundry, toilets
and, of course, the staircase and elevators will be at the ground floor.

The
chairman's and other director's offices, the clinical lab and ultrasound can be
in the Southwest, South and West sectors. Canteens, kitchens, generator and
plant rooms can be in the agneya - Southeast sector. The elevators/staircases,
laundry and toilets can be in the vayuvya - Northwest sector of the structure.

The
central area from the North to South and East to West corresponding to 1/9th of
the length (or width) can be kept open for fast and free movement of
stretchers, wheel chairs, trolleys, doctors and patients. As the casualty and
the minor operation theatres are immediate necessities, these can be in the easanya
- Northeast of the building for easy access.

First
floor of a modern hospital can house the operation theatres and other attendant
units and rooms. The intensive care units can be in the Southwest and the South
sectors, the CSSD and the changing rooms can be in the East and South sectors.
The major/minor operation theatres and the post operative and recovery rooms
can be in the North and Northeast sectors, the endoscopy room and the minor OPD
procedures, the changing rooms and toilets can be in the West, North and
Northwest sectors. The scrubbing and washing areas, the pantry and linen
cupboards and the CSSD can be in the South and Southeast sector

In
the second floor, the hospital can house the patient's single and double wards
and the nurse's dormitories. The chairman's room and the double wards can be in
the South, West and South - west sectors, the single wards can be in the
Northeast, the nurses' dormitories in the North, canteens and kitchens in the
South-east, and toilets and laundry in the Northwest sector.

The
third floor can have the conference rooms having close circuit TV network for
watching live operations in the North, East and Northeast sectors and the
incinerators used for disposing of waste and infected material can be in the
Southwest sector. The male and the female toilets can be in the Northwest
sector and the Southwest and the South sectors can be strengthened with a rock
garden such that it slopes to the North/East.

Importance of
Sleeping Positions

The
patients cots can be placed such that their heads are to the South. This way,
the magnetic energies coming from the various sides and the polarity induced in
the body vibe with each other to maintain a balanced blood circulation in the
body, thereby strengthening the healing and curative properties of the body.

The
great sage Garga is said have said that one should lie with his head placed
southward if he wanted to live long. Sage Markandeya says that one is strong
and lives long by placing one's head to the South.

It
has also been proved by experiments that the human body is a magnetiseable
object and that it contains a large percentage of iron in the blood that
circulates all through the body. As our feet are always in touch with the
Northern Hemisphere of the earth, which exhibits the properties of north
polarity, south polarity is induced in out feet and consequently north polarity
is induced in the head. The body will have stable health if the head is placed
to the south, thereby preserving the natural polarity of the body.

On
the other hand, when the head is placed to the north, there is repulsion
between the two like poles of the body and the earth, blood circulation is
affected and disease sets in.