Mercy Dream

"It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters." - Mother Teresa

Within the first few years of moving to Calcutta in 1954, Mark Buntain frequently carried invalids on the street to clinics to receive medical treatment.  Dr. V.N. Chadha recalled, “He was always ready to help people, even from the streets, who were looking for help during all hours of the day and night.  I still remember one occasion when Dr. Buntain walked into my house late at night carrying a destitute boy on his shoulders who was vomiting, soiling all of his clothes.  Dr. Buntain was least troubled by this and told me, ‘My friend, can you help this child of God.’ [...]  He would bring these sick people who needed help and would have them hospitalized in various nursing homes.  I could see what an enormous amount of financial, physical, and mental strain Dr. Buntain was undergoing.”

When a frail girl fainted at a school Mark had founded, he rushed her to a city hospital in search of emergency help.  Startled by the hospital's congestion and inability to meet the medical needs of the city’s poor, Mark vowed that day to feed and medically treat the impoverished children of Calcutta.  His vision began as a small clinic.  After several years of strenuous work and multiple miracles, the plans to build a larger medical facility began to take shape.  In 1977, Mark opened the doors of Calcutta Mercy Hospital, a seven-story general hospital devoted to serving the medical needs of Calcutta.

Thanks to a dedicated team of administrators, doctors, nurses, donors, and friends, Calcutta Mercy Hospital has continued to provide healthcare to the people of Calcutta for over 30 years.  What started as a small clinic in the back of a building has expanded to a 30 multi-specialty hospital, School of Nursing, diagnostic centre, and numerous Mercy Clinics serving the outlying areas of Calcutta.  Over 40,000 of India's poor receive free healthcare treatment every year through our medical network.  As we move into the future, we plan to expand our services to include a College of Nursing and 40 Mercy Clinics to carry on our founder's original dream of serving the poor.