right in the midst of the hustle bustle of the margao town sits the iconic hospicio south goas district hospital housed in a grand heritage home where the distinct flavour of a colonial past synergises with modern day medicine nearing 150 years this grand institution which metamorphosed from a palliative care home to a fullfledged hospital in the years immediately following liberation has dedicatedly served people with the simple principle in service of mankind lies godlinessa history of the iconic hospital is unforgettably intertwined with the history of the city itself a mere evocation of its name and those who consider margao their home are flush with memories and while those who have contributed to it have dwindled to a handful there are still goan families who recount with nostalgia their ancestors association with it indeed many of goas most wellknown doctors bento egipsy wilfred dsouza arcanjo menezes and gv naik to name a few have graced its wards and theatres with their skillbut hospicio isnt only about the nostalgia its journey has seen bigger challenges two world wars periods of stagnation individual rivalries amongst the members of its trust parochialism and in recent decades government apathybut the idea of the home was conceived atop the monte hill at whose base it stands for it was up above at the capela de nossa senhora de piedade that father antonio joao de miranda decided to reach out to the old infirm destitute and sick of margao and provide them with shelter and compassion people were dying on the road says former medical superintendent dr lanfredo da costa hospicios present medical superintendent dr ira almeida recounts how the late priest literally went around with a begging bowl asking for charity lore says one person spat in fr mirandas kotti says da costa ultimately he says the initial funds came from the broader public of south goafinally on december 13 1867 hospicio do sagrado coracao de maria was established as a palliative care centre says almeida in 1977 it was taken over by the union territory of goa daman and diuinitial operations began with sixodd patients at a small house where today stands the clergy home the move to the present premises happened later when fr miranda was able to purchase it from the ancestors of dr gamberto costaits reputation soaring help continued to pour in fr miranda decided it was time to set in place an administration to manage the place this was the precursor to the powerful and rich trust that eventually came to run the hospitalabout this trust historian rafael viegas says tongueincheek it was one of the three institutes of margao where rivalries played outin its struggles with finances the administration devised ingenious ways of generating funds initially they gave loans against gold says da costa while almeida adds the jackpot was hit after the institute decided to conduct lotteries that was in 1879 in fact so successful were these that in the year 1893 they