The  Christian  Medical  College  and  Hospital  (CMCH), Vellore was founded by Dr. Ida Scudder in January  1900.

The spirit of service was stirred in the mind of young Ida in 1890 while visiting her parents in South India where her father was a missionary doctor. Seeing that medical needs of Indian women in childbirth was an area where much needed to be done, she decided to address the problem herself. After studying Medicine at the Cornell University in America, she returned to Vellore and started a small clinic in 1900, which today has grown into a multidisciplinary healthcare, teaching and research  facility of  international  repute.

CMCH, Vellore has made significant contributions  to Medical Education in India, having trained over ten thousand graduates in healthcare disciplines. At present, the  institution runs graduate courses in Medicine, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Medical Record Science, Medical laboratory Technology and Nursing. Postgraduate training in various medical and nursing disciplines and  a number of diploma programmes in Allied Health Sciences are also offered. The mission of the institution is to provide education of the highest grade, underpinned by a sound ethical framework and without commercial motives.

Community outreach and Primary Health Care for far-flung rural communities has been given high priority at the CMCH. Ida Scudder's concept of "Roadside" clinics in which a team of staff set out in a bullock cart with medical supplies and went out into the surrounding rural communities to provide health care had sowe'd the seeds of an innovative and path breaking Community Health and Development (CHAD) programme, which has  recently  been  commended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as  the  best Primary Health Care programme  in India.  The  Rural  Unit for Health and Social Affairs (RUHSA), College of Nursing Community Health(CONCH) and Low  Cost Effective Care (LCEC) units of the CMCH have also been effectively participating in Primary Health Care and Community Outreach.

The main hospital in Vellore town covers  both secondary level and advanced tertiary level care including complex  neurosurgery,  cardiothoracic  surgery,  organ transplantation  and oncology. In the area of tertiary care, some of the mile stones the institution has recorded include the first Leprosy reconstructive surgery in the world in 1948, first open heart surgery in India in 1961, first Rehabilitation institute in India in 1966 and first bone marrow transplant in India in 1986. The objective of the institution in the area of tertiary care is to provide high quality care, using indigenous materials wherever possible, making technology cost-effective and setting up a frame­ work for ethical decision making.

CMCH, Vellore has also been actively involved in medical research in infectious diseases such as leprosy, polio, diarrhoeal diseases and HIV/A IDS and other problem s like malnutrition, relevant to the country. Research grants have been awarded by the WHO, ICMR, DST, DBT and other national and   international organizations.

The Department of Posts is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp in the centenary year of CMCH,  Vellore, an institution that has  upheld   its commitment to the weaker sections, to quality medical education and patient care and to the maintenance of high ethical standards in the medical profession. The stamp design portrays  the  college chapel,  the  motivating monument of the CMCH which symbolizes the ethos of the institution and the First Day Cover portrays Dr. Ida Scudder, the founder.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India