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Pioneer
One who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow. Eg. Vaatsalya is now one of a clutch of pioneering ventures that provide healthcare to low-income communities.
Grapes Grapes are powerful antioxidants. They act as a diuretic (reduce water retention). Interestingly, grape seeds are also of nutritional benefit.
MAY 2011
VAATSALYA TIMES
DECEMBER 2011 - JANUARY 2012
“Snapshots of Change”
An introduction to Key Hole Surgery
Vaatsalya Social Initiatives
Dr. Prabha Dhanesh Desai
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Vishisht Seva Medal for
Hirschsprungs Disease In Newborn
Brig. Dhylis Arujah
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Our very own Vaatsalya baby Shilpa Mani
Dressed up in theme : A kid from Tarikere holding Vaatsalya Umbrella
Photo : Mahesh Nayak, SMG
Corporate Correspondent, VT, Bangalore
Baby Vaatsalya with her mother and grand mother during the parent education program at Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram
B Vaatsalya’s Senior Manager-Accounts Mr. Ragavendra Rao being felicitated by State Bank of India, Bangalore.
Vaatsalya welcomes their new consultants
haskara Rao, one of the fire safety personnel from Vizianagaram and his wife Swapna, a housewife, were blessed with a female baby after having to deal with complications during pregnancy. Post delivery, they discovered that the baby had a neural tube defect called Occipital Encephalocele.
Occipital Encephalocele is a protrusion of the brain and its membranes through an opening in the back of the skull which grows in size if left untreated. It causes neurological disorders, developmental delay, problems in vision, mental and growth retardation and seizures. Since she was delivered at a health
centre, which was unequipped to treat her condition. They consulted a local practitioner in their locality, who referred them to Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram. Nine days after her birth, she was brought to Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram, and admitted under the guidance of Dr. Renu Kumar, Head of Pediatric surgery. After initial work ups, the baby was found to be unfit for surgery. And was advised to come back after few months. At 4 months, she was admitted again and underwent surgery to remove the protrusion and repair the connecting nerves. The family decided to name her Vaatsalya, as a way to express their gratitude towards Vaatsalya Hospital and its doctors.
Patient Reunion And Parent Education Dr. Lokesh V C
Dr. Veena
Consultant Anaesthetist and Intensivist Consultant Anaesthetist and Intensivist Vaatsalya Hospital, Mandya Vaatsalya Hospital, Mandya
Dr. Somsundar R G
Dr. Vinay Sapare
Consultant Anaesthetist and Intensivist Consultant Anaesthetist and Intensivist Vaatsalya Hospital, Mandya Vaatsalya Hospital, Mandya
On December 18, 2011, Vaatsalya Hospital’s Surgery Department at Vizianagaram hosted the Surgical Patient Reunion for patients and their families at Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram. With about 40 families in attendance, this day celebrated the success of the Surgery Department which is headed by Dr. Renu Kumar at Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram. The reunion also provided an opportunity to educate the patients and their families about availing the services of a state of the art surgical facility and qualified, trained doctors
Dr. Deepali Thakur Photo : Arif Basheer
Dr. Praveen Kumar K S
It gives us immense pleasure to introduce Vaatsalya Hospital, Hanamkonda as the fifteenth hospital in the Vaatsalya network. For online version visit www.vaatsalya.com
Vizianagaram also presented the attendees with a Surgical Patients benefit card with a one year validity which includes services like free ambulance service and free health check up.
Manasi Nagaraj
Corporate Correspondent, VT, Bangalore
More than 100 people attended the parent education program in Vizianagaram.
Continued in Page 2
The Fifteenth Flower Vaatsalya Hospital, Hanamkonda
Corporate Correspondent, VT, Bangalore
Consultant Obstretrician and Gynaecologist Vaatsalya Hospital, Tarikere
and staff. Dr. M Venkateswara Rao, Medical Director, Vaatsalya Hospital,
Vaatsalya Hospital, Hanamkonda was started on January 15, 2012 led by Dr. Kusuma Sreelaxmi, a Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist and a renowned Infertility specialist. Dr. Sreelaxmi, an MBBS from Kakatiya Medical College and DGO from Manipal Academy of Higher Education, started Saicare hospital in August 2006 to be able to provide good health care facilities for the people of Warangal district. Dr. Sreelaxmi decided to associate
with Vaatsalya Hospitals to be able to provide multi speciality care for the people of Warangal district. Vaatsalya Hospital, Hanamkonda is the first hospital in Warangal district to provide IUI and IVF facillity for its residents.
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VAATSALYA TIMES
DECEMBER 2011 - JANUARY 2012
Snapshots of Change
Shilpa Mani
Corporate Correspondent, VT, Bangalore
“A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
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Prevention of Kidney Diseases Photo : Mahesh, GLB
Dr. Manjunath Doshetty interacting with employees of the Gulbarga Irrigation Dept.
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health awareness talk was conducted by Dr. Manjunath Doshetty, Consultant Nephrologist, Vaatsalya Hospital, Gulbarga on December 16, 2011 at The Irrigation Department in Gulbarga. He spoke about “The Prevention of Kidney Diseases” at the Department Auditorium. This talk was attended by over 40 department employees including the senior officials. There was also a one to one interaction between Dr. Manjunath and the audience. At the end of the session, Mr. Renganathan, Head of the Gulbarga Irrigation department expressed his gratitude to Vaatsalya Hospital.
importance of early cancer detection and methods of self examination. Photo : Mahesh, BJP
gynaec cancer detection camp was conducted on 8th and 9th December by Dr. Jyoti Korbu, Consultant Gynaecologist & Obstetrician, at Vaatsalya Hospital, Bijapur. All 30 patients who attended the camp underwent a Pap smear test, hb test, and received a free consultation from Dr. Jyoti Korbu. During the camp, Dr. Jyoti Korbu also spoke to the patients about the
Dr. Jyoti Korbu interacting with a patient during the camp
Safe Pregnancy Campaign A safe pregnancy camp was conducted at Vaatsalya H o s p i t a l , Vi zianagaram on 23 & 24 December, 2011. Dr. M Padmakumari, Consultant Gynaecologist, attended to over Photo : Eswar Rao, VZM
Free health check up camp at Ajjampura
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aatsalya Hospital, Tarikere and Shimoga in association with IMA Tarikere and Rotary Club, Tarikere conducted a free health camp at Ajjampura, a small town in the district of Chikmagalur, on January 22, 2012. A total of 497 people attended the camp. Specialists from Vaatsalya Hospital, Tarikere and Shimoga were involved in the camp. Dr. Girish (Paediatric Consultant and Medical Director), Dr. Praveen (Consultant Gynaecologist), Dr. Sadanand Poojar (Consultant Surgeon) from Vaatsalya Hospital, Tarikere and Dr. Dayanand
A S (Consultant Nephrologist), Dr. Gopinath H V (Consultant Surgeon), Dr. Pruthvi B C (Consultant Physician) and Dr. Pradeep S H (Consultant Paediatric Surgeon) from Vaatsalya Hospital, Shimoga. Photo : Pradeep, TKR
Road Traffic Safety, Shimoga Every year in the month of December, the traffic police from Shimoga is involved in creating awareness among people to drive safely and responsibly. On December 30, 2011, Shimoga Traffic Police department For online version visit www.vaatsalya.com
Awareness program on Breast Feeding, Vizianagaram
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n awareness program was conducted at Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram about “The Importance of Breast Feeding” on January 4, 2012. The one hour program was conducted by Dr. Malla Venkateswara Rao for 35 expecting and new mothers who were admitted at the hospital. All of the attendees were happy to be enlightened with such information. One of the attendees, Kusuma, a 27 year old first time mother from Chintalavalasa Village near Vizianagaram said, “We did not know that hospitals would
teamed up with Vaatsalya Hospital, Shimoga to educate people about taking necessary precautions while driving, to not drink and drive, to wear a seat belt, to follow traffic rules and avoid accidents. Hoardings were
Dr. M Venkateswara Rao during the program
conduct such informative sessions for the patients as well. For people like me who do not have the guidance of elders at home, this session was an eye opener and I am very thankful to Vaatsalya Hospital and Dr. M V Rao for spending their valuable time with us and sharing such information.”
Free Health Check up Camp, Darmapuri
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free health check up camp was conducted at M.P.P School, Darmapuri Village, Vizianagaram on January 10, 2012. More than 140 students underwent general tests, of which 4 surgical cases were identified. These 4 students were referred to Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram for their surgeries. This camp was made possible with the support of Mr. Ravi Kumar, Teacher at M.P.P School; Dr. Renu Kumar, Paediatric Surgeon, Vaatsalya Hospital,
A young girl accompanied by her brother, getting treated at the camp by a doctor.
Vizianagaram, Dr. Nareen Kumar, Duty Doctor, Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram and Mr. I V Ramana, Hospital Administrator, Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram.
Bridging the Gap - Hospital Facility Tour
Dr. Padmakumari during the program
25 patients on both days. Dr. M Padmakumari told VT that all the pregnant women who attended the camp will get benefits like free anti natal health advice, one free consultation every month, advice on breast feeding and a 50% discount on Ultrasound scanning till their time of delivery.
camp either within the hospital or at a village nearby, encouraging the medical team to be a part of Vaatsalya’s Social Initiative. Here’s a glimpse of how they do it….
Photo : Balakrishna, VZM
Gynaec Cancer Detection Camp, Bijapur
people in need of affordable quality healthcare, is further strengthened with the co-operation of the doctors, nurses and para-medical staff. Every week, Vaatsalya initiates a health
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aatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram conducted a hospital facility tour for the patient attenders present at the hospital on December 23, 2011. An estimated 60 people lined up to see the various facilities offered at Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram. The hospital administrator Mr. I V Ramana explained to the people about the Operation Theatre, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Medical Intensive care unit (MICU), Paediatric Intensive care unit (PICU), Surgical Intensive care unit (SICU) and other facilities. The Medical Director of Vaatsalya
Photo : Eswar Rao, VZM
The patient attenders during the facility tour at Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram
Hospital Vizianagaram, Dr. M V Rao was quoted as saying that “the facility tour is a new initiative from Vaatsalya to educate and create awareness among the people about the various facilities that are available at their door step.”
Patient Reunion And Parent Education Continued from Page 1 Taking encouragement from the their families for over two weeks. success of the program at Vaatsalya This program was well appreciated Hospital, Vizianagaram, the same by all the attendees. Owing to the appreciation program was started at Vaatsalya Hospital, Tarikere as well. An received from the attendees at both awareness program on Breast feeding Vizianagaram and Tarikere, Vaatsalya and importance of vaccinations for plans to conduct such programz across new borns was given to patients and all its hospitals on a monthly basis. Photo : Mahesh, Shimoga
professional, Vaatsalya’s doctors and nurses mark their presence with various social initiatives for the people who are in need of them. Vaatsalya’s mission to reach out to the
Photo : Eswar Rao, VZM
Vaatsalya’s doctors and nurses are driven by this faith in their medical knowledge and live to make that change. Moving away from the traditional image of a medical
placed around the city promoting traffic rules and regulations. A rally was also organized around the city to spread the message. Around 100 school students and 50 police personnel were a part of this event. A hoarding near Shimoga Railway Station
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VAATSALYA TIMES
DECEMBER 2011 - JANUARY 2012
Hirschsprung’s Disease In Newborn
Eswar Rao
Hospital Correspondent, VT, VZM
The moment of pride - Dr. Renukumar with Madhulatha’s Family
A few days after their son was born, Madhulatha, a housewife and Phani Kiran, an Electrician hailing from Vizianagaram and working in Hyderabad, discovered that the baby had an obstruction in his intestines. The baby was suffering from abdominal distension, vomiting and failure to pass motion. They took their son to a local hospital in Hyderabad twice and admitted him there for 9 days. As his condition worsened, Kiran was told by the doctor that his son would require
immediate surgery. Since Kiran was not able to afford the treatment cost at Hyderabad, his doctor referred him to Dr. Renu Kumar at Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram. Chatan Venkata Sai was brought to Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram, when he was 27 days old and admitted immediately. Initial work up, suggested an acute intestinal obstruction requiring emergency surgery to relieve his obstruction. Dr. Renu Kumar and his team operated on the baby immediately. During the surgery baby was found to have congenital megacolon, hence a Hartmann’s procedure [colostomy with rectal stump closure] was
Fig 1
performed and biopsies were taken from the distal sigmoid and rectum to look for ganglion cells. [Fig 1]. The biopsy test was suggestive of recto sigmoid Hirschsprung disease. Hirschsprung Disease is a disorder of the gut which is caused by the absence of ganglion cells in the affected intestines resulting in intractable constipation and abdominal distension. The affected segment of the intestines fails to relax, causing an adynamic obstruction. At the age of 5 months the baby underwent stage 2 definitive procedure, a major surgery called as Duhamel’s retrorectal pull through which involves the pulling through of functioning [ganglionated] sigmoid colon through a retro-rectal route to the colo-anal junction so that the baby can pass stools from the normal anal orifice (please log
on to vaatsalya.com/blog for the pictures). Two months after the major surgery, Chatan Venkata Sai is doing well and the entire family was extremely happy and satisfied by the services provided by Vaatsalya Hospital, and they expressed their gratitude towards Dr. Renu Kumar and the entire Vaatsalya team.
Dr. T. Renu Kumar MBBS, MS (Gen. Surg, PGI) MCh [Ped Surg PGI] is the head of Department of Pediatric Surgery at Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram. He is an alumnus of one of the most prestigious and premier institute in the country ‘ P G I M E R Chandigarh’. He can be contacted at times@vaatsalya.com
An introduction to Key Hole Surgery • Laparoscopy • Arthroscopy These surgeries are usually done with the help of a camera and a screen for guidance. Thoracoscopy: related to surgeries of lung and chest Laparoscopy: related to abdominal surgeries. In all fields, science and technology is progressing very rapidly. The same thing is the case in the medical and surgical field. One of the examples of medical progress is Key Hole Surgery or Minimal invasive surgery.
What is key hole surgery? Key hole surgery or Minimal Invasive Surgery can be of 3 types • Thoracoscopy
Arthroscopy: - related to surgeries, specially knee joint
What is Laparoscopy? Abdomen has various layers; in routine surgeries we have to cut all these layers to reach the affected organ but in laparoscopy we can reach the affected organ with help of 5 mm - 10 mm hole in the abdomen and inserting an instrument into it.
Corporate Correspondent, VT, Bangalore
challenges and Team work to reach their goals. Eligibility for Employee of the month – Confirmed employees from Nursing, Housekeeping, Security, Front office, Pharmacy and Lab employees, PCC, HR and Accounts executive. The employees are nominated by
Location
Employee name
Designation
Anantapur Bijapur Gadag Gulbarga Hassan Hubli Malur Mandya Mysore Narasannapet Ongole Shimoga Tarikere Vizianagaram Bangalore
Eswaraiah Basappa Naik Ambanna Adlin Vijaya Uma Suman Bavate Jagadish Siddaraju Chandrika S V Satyanarayana Mr.Basha Neman Baig Mamatha V. Yernamma Ambuja Sutar
OT Assistant Patient Co-ordinator Pharmacist Staff Nurse Housekeeping Staff Ground Staff Security Guard Receptionist Staff Nurse Security Guard X-ray Technician Front office executive Staff Nurse Pharmacist Accounts Executive
For online version visit www.vaatsalya.com
What all surgeries can be done through Laparoscopy? Surgeries related to intestines, gall bladder, appendix, uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, liver, kidney, and gastric tumor. Gynecological surgeries like • Hysterectomy • Fibroid Removal • Ovarian drilling • Ovarian cystectomy • Adhesiolysis • Infertility related surgery • Tubo plasty
What are the advantages during and post surgery? 1. Less Pain 2. Early recovery 3. Less blood loss 4. Less Infection 5. Less Hospital stay 6. Less scarring Dr Prabha Dhanesh Desai, (MS(OBGY ) Mumbai, FCPS (OBGY), DGO, PGDMLS) is the department head of Gynaecology and Obstetrics in Vaatsalya Hospital, Gadag. She can be contacted at times@vaatsalya.com
Employee of the Month
Manasi Nagaraj
Vaatsalya started the Employee of the month program from December 2011 to recognize the talent and passion of its employees. The selection criterion is based on the SPIRIT of Vaatsalya - Service to customer, Passion about excellence, Integrity at all levels, Responsibility towards work, Initiative to overcome
joint
Carbon Di-Oxide is used to distend the abdomen. A scope is inserted with camera attached to it, with the help of which the abdominal structure can be viewed on the screen.
their respective managers and one employee from each department – Nursing, Housekeeping and Admin is chosen. The remaining employees then vote for one of the nominated employees. To make the process transparent, the counting of votes is done immediately and the employee with the highest
votes is given the Employee of the month certificate along with a cash reward and a gift by the Medical Director.
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VAATSALYA TIMES
DECEMBER 2011 - JANUARY 2012
Vishisht Seva Medal for Brig. Dhylis Arujah Br i gad ier Arujah, Head of nursing s e r v i c e s , Vaatsalya was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal for d i s t i n g u i s he d service to the nation by the Governor of Karnataka, Mr Bhardwaj during the Flag Day celebration on January 13, 2012. Brigadier Dhylis Arujah
with her expertise, exceptional hard work and motivational interaction with nursing officers facilitated the optimization of medical care to the actively deployed nursing officers posted in the far flung areas. For her outstanding devotion to duties, vision, selflessness, unparalleled integrity, and unflinching loyalty to the organization and such, we would like to congratulate Brigadier Dhylis Arujah for receiving the Vishisht Seva Medal.
6 Calls We Got Right December 20, 2010, Vaatsalya Healthcare was featured in Forbes India Magazine as one of the five hot start-ups to watch out for. “Estimates suggest nearly threefourths of India’s healthcare facilities are in urban areas, whereas two-thirds of our population resides in semi-urban or rural ones. That’s the imbalance Vaatsalya Healthcare is trying to correct. Started in 2005 by a bunch of enthusiastic doctors, Vaatsalya’s goal is to create India’s largest hospital network focused only on tier-2 and tier-3 towns. Today, its 10 hospitals — eight in Karnataka and two in Andhra Pradesh — treat over 300,000 patients annually. Cofounder Dr. Ashwin Naik says he expects to double the hospital count
next year, expand into Maharashtra and increase the patient count to 1 million. With state governments working on mass-scale health insurance for poorer citizens, Vaatsalya’s hospitals will see an ever-increasing patient flow.” December 29, 2011, Vaatsalya Healthcare was featured again in Forbes India Magazine as “6 calls we got right”. “Last year, we wrote about Vaatsalya Healthcare. This hospital chain targeted at India’s smaller towns, has opened four new hospitals and taken in $10 million in venture funding.” UPFRONT/SPECIAL Dec 29, 2011
Low-cost healthcare is evolving with ventures like Vaatsalya, Glocal Healthcare, Eye-Q schemes, like Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna, under which citizens who fall in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category get free healthcare. The short supply of trained doctors, nurses and technicians is another problem that is affecting the spread of affordable medical care. “Pharma companies, insurance companies, medical device manufacturers and healthcare providers need to work hand-inhand to improve supply chain of medicines and come up with cheaper devices and better healthcare plans,” said Naik. “A holistic approach is urgently required.”
Small steps towards high quality affordable healthcare - Reduction of medical record errors at Vaatsalya Hospital, Vizianagaram. During routine medical records audit, it was found that there were significant number of errors in the medical records of patients. When this result was put before the Medical Records Committee, the members of the committee discussed the different solutions to this problem and decided to try color coding the errors by the cadre of employees who need to be trained to avoid those errors. The medical records were again audited to check the effectiveness of the color coding scheme and it was found that the number of errors had significantly come down and the
Naveen Kumar
errors that were committed were highlighted and corrected faster than before. Good quality affordable health care can be achieved through hundreds of such simple methods of reducing errors in all activities of the hospital. If you are interested to know more about this method and are interested to try it in your hospital, you can contact Joanna (Medical Records incharge VZM) or Dr M.V Rao (Chairperson - Medical Records Committee)
Dr Bhargava
NABH Correspondant,VT, Bangalore
Traveller’s Blog
Staff Correspondent, VT, Anantapur
Located about 35 kms from Kadiri, and 100 kms from Anantapur, there is a banyan tree, which is locally called as “Thimmamma Marrimanu’’. A single tree, spread over nearly 5 acres, is regarded as the biggest of its kind in South India. It is named after ‘Thimmamma’ who was considered to be the representative of the Almighty. To the pride of India, the “Marrimanu” was recorded as the biggest tree in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1989. A small temple dedicated to Thimmamma was erected under this tree. A small writing in Telugu on the temple walls as well as in a book at the shrine accounts the story of this lady and the emergence of the tree. Thimmamma was the daughter of a Setti Balija (a class of people from Andhra Pradesh) couple Sennakka Venkatappa and Mangamma, born
in AD 1394. She was married to an eligible bachelor, Bala Veerayya who died in 1434, and Thimmamma committed ‘Sati’. The banyan tree is believed to have sprouted at the place where she ascended the funeral pyre. The people of this area strongly believe that if a childless couple worships “Thimmamma” they will have a child the very next year. A big procession is conducted here on the day of “Shivaratri” when thousands of people flock here to worship ‘Thimmamma’ on this occasion.
December 30, 2011.
Photo : Mark Allan Boston University School of Management
“Private affordable healthcare did not exist as an industry even seven years ago when Ashwin Naik, a doctor, co-founded Vaatsalya, a chain of low-cost, twenty-bed hospitals in northern Karnataka. Today, with a network of 14 hospitals across smaller towns and cities in southern India, Vaatsalya is now one of a clutch of pioneering ventures that provide healthcare to lowincome communities. Entrepreneurs are setting up affordable speciality clinics, medical devices companies, and health insurance ventures. “Though relatively cheaper, we are still out of reach for the poorest sections of society,” said Naik of Vaatsalya. They are able to provide free treatment to poor patients who are insured under various government
Vaatsalya Mission NABH
Vaatsalya Team with the Boston University Students, during their Visit to Vaatsalya Head office, Bangalore
For online version visit www.vaatsalya.com
“We would like to hear from you” send your valuable suggestions & queries about Vaatsalya Times to times@vaatsalya.com or our Toll Free Number 1800 425 88888
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