The Dr H. Gordon Roberts hospital in Shillong was named after its founder, missionary and surgeon Dr. Hughes Gordon Roberts in 1922. Also known as the Khasi Hills Welsh Mission Hospital, it began as a 90-bedder hospital served by Presbyterian Church Of Wales (PCW) missionary doctors and nurses. His successor Dr R.A Hughes later introduced the latest operating techniques and anesthetic medicine, and started the first blood bank in Shillong. For many years, it was one of the few institutions in northeast India in which major surgery could be performed.
The hospital’s chief medical officer visited Presbyterian Church Of Wales PCW)’s General Assembly in 2014, and described plans to celebrate the hospital’s centenary by adding to existing buildings, including wards, clinics and operating rooms, and expanding facilities to educate future nurses.
Over the next 2 years, the Moderator’s appeal garnered £115,000 for the Shillong hospital, which has since named an extension “Presbyterian Church Of Wales Nursing Block”, and is set to welcome a group of students.