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Just before Dr. James Davidson left Neyyoor in 1913, the London Missionary Society sent Stepen Horatio Pugh, M.B.Ch.B., F.R.C.S. to the South Travancore Medical Mission. He worked for the Medical Mission till 1926. He greatly improved the standard of work of the Medical Mission especially in the Neyyoor Hospital.
When Dr.S.H. Pugh was the Medical Superintendant of the Medical
Mission, the entire staff were those trained within the Mission
and hence, they were low paid. The Medical Mission Evangelists
were paid Rs.12-14 per month. He immediately raised the salary
upto five or six times. This has improved the standard of living
of the entire staff of the Medical Mission. Well educated boys and
girls began to apply for all the posts of Medical Mission including
nursing and thus the quality of medical service has greatly
improved.
The increase in the expenditure of the Medical Mission necessitated charging patients for operations and consultations. This principle was introduced by Dr.S.H. Pugh himself. Later Dr.T.H. Somerwell also justified Dr. Pugh's action. Input of patients have increased due to the introduction of new method of treatment and modern techniques.
Dr.S.H. Pugh encouraged the medical class started by Dr.Davidson and the services of the students were fully utilized in the hospital. Drs.G.M. Samuel, S. Ambrose, Manuel, S.G. Nallathambi, A. Aruldhas and Banu were some of the students who served the Medical Mission after their education at Neyyoor.
The standard of surgical work has tremendously improved during Dr. Pugh's time. In certain fields, Neyyoor Hospital was ahead of all other hospitals in the country at that time. Dr.Pugh was the first surgeon to find out duodenal ulcer as a common cause for dyspepsia and he was the first surgeon to operate for it. Lack of adequately trained medical evangelist has further increased the burden on Dr.Pugh as a lonely surgeon so that patients had to wait for a long time for surgeries.
Dr. Pugh made arrangements to get his men trained in the American
Presbyterian Mission Medical School at Miraj in Bombay. The
entire cost of education of those candidates was met by the
Medical Mission.
Miss. Schaffter worked as Nursing Superintendant during 1916-1922.
After she had left, the Medical Mission was without a European
nurse and the training of nurses had come to a hault leading
to a shortage of nursing personnel in the Medical Mission. During
this time, Miss. Ferguson, a European nurse who was making a
tour in India volunteered to serve the Medical Mission for a
period of two years. Later Miss.E.A. Hacker worked as a nurse
from 1923 to 1927. She was born and brought up in Neyyoor itself
when her father Rev. I. H. Hacker was a missionary here and
started giving training to new men and women in nursing.
Dr.T.H. Somervell of Mount Everest fame came for a fortnight
stay with Dr.S.H. Pugh in the year 1922. The two Doctors perfomed
many surgeries. Dr.Somervell was very much impressed by the
work done by Dr.S.H. Pugh alone. Seeing the great need at Neyyoor,
Dr. Somervell decided to come to Neyyoor as a Medical Missionary.
In April 1924, Dr.T.H. Somervell went off to Everest and was away from Neyyoor for a few Months, leaving Dr. Pugh alone once again. But he returned to Neyyoor in August. Again in 1925, he went back to England and got married to Miss. Margret and returned to Neyyoor with his wife. In the year 1926, again he went to the Himalayas in the region of Nanda Devi with his wife leaving Dr. Pugh alone.
Early in the 1926, Dr. Pugh became very tired and overworked
and he left Neyyoor on furlough in the same year. Later he wrote
that he did not intend to come back, much to the dismay of all.
Thus, he has spent a longer period of service here than any
of the predecessors. Moreover, for many of these years, he was
working single handed.
In Travancore Dr. Pugh's name was held in the highest esteem
by one and all even by the Maharajah of the State. Dr.T.H. Somervell
who came back from his holiday stay in Himalayas with his wife
in the year, wrote about Dr. Pugh like this.
"Dr. Pugh who did more than any single individual to increase
the efficienency and the influence of our Medical Mission, left
us during this interval. He substituted the miserable pittance
of our staff in Neyyoor Hospital enourmously and greatly improved
the business arrangements of the mission, and a personal note
may I add that he was an ideal colleague to serve under and
serve with patient, yet efficient; high in his standard and
strong in his sense of right; yet understanding and sympathetic
and extremely painstaking with every patient who consulted him.
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