Women Directors Appointed To Three Top Delhi Hospitals

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Monday, 25 May 2026

Delhi's public healthcare system is making a significant shift in leadership as three of its top central government hospitals will see women doctors at the helm for the first time in the city's history.

Dr Akhilandeshwari Prasad, director of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Dr Himani Ahluwalia as director of Lady Hardinge Medical College and Dr Kavita Rani Sharma as director of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital were given appointment orders by the Union health ministry on Friday.

This is the first time women have been simultaneously in charge of three of Delhi's largest and busiest government-run tertiary care institutions, officials said.

Dr Prasad, a senior consultant in the field of radio diagnosis, has been appointed as director of ABVIMS and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital from now on, and Dr Ahluwalia, who is director professor of physiology, will be in charge of Lady Hardinge Medical College from July 9. Professor Dr Sharma, director professor of anaesthesia has been appointed as the director of VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital immediately. She had earlier been given additional charge as its director this March.

• Three women appointed to head Delhi’s top govt hospitals for the first time
• Dr Prasad, Dr Ahluwalia, and Dr Sharma take charge of major medical institutions
• The move marks rising women leadership in public healthcare

Dr Prasad, who is an MBBS gold medallist from Lady Hardinge Medical College and MD in radiodiagnosis from RML Hospital, told TOI that she has been with the hospital for almost three decades, now serving as a gold medallist and head of the radiodiagnosis department at RML Hospital and is also associated with ABVIMS in academic and administrative capacities.

She mentioned that patient centric care, uninterrupted essential services, integrated paperless healthcare systems, operationalisation of the super-specialty block, upgrading of infrastructure would be among her top 5 priorities.

Dr Prasad also intends to enhance the teaching, research and clinical training components of the institute, besides augmenting the healthcare and academic potential of the institute.

Dr Sharma informed TOI that Safdarjung Hospital is one of the biggest tertiary care centres in the country handling approximately 13,000 patients in the OPD every day and having various super-speciality departments. Her priorities would be on enhancing patient care, medical education and research, she said.

As a combined entity, they serve lakhs of patients every year and have an important role in undergraduate and post-graduate medical education, as well as in tertiary services and national public health programmes.

The appointments are indicative of the increasing number of women in senior positions in the public healthcare and medical education system that has traditionally been led by men, officials said.