Lucy Oommen

Lucy Oommen was an Indian gynecologist and the first medical director of Indian origin at the St. Stephen's Hospital, New Delhi. Born to P. K. Oommen and Kochannamma as the eldest of their three children, in the south Indian state of Kerala, she graduated in medicine from the Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore and joined St. Stephen's Hospital as a surgeon in 1942. She became the director of the hospital in 1961, the first Indian to become the director of the institution, and held the post till her retirement in 1988. She was awarded the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1977. Oommen remained a spinster throughout her life and died in March 2002. St. Stephen's Hospital instituted an award, Dr. Lucy Oommen Award, in 2005, for recognizing excellence in Mother and Child Care, the first of the awards going to Sharda Jain, a known gynecologist based in New Delhi in 2008.