Super Speciality Hospitals - South India - Seasonal Magazine

The world’s ‘poor’ sick have started coming to India in thousands, but where will India’s poor sick go?

Dr. India!

COVERSTORY

F

or an individual, falling sick is a deep personal concern. Whether she is in Mumbai or New York.

But for the private healthcare industry, people falling sick is an enormous opportunity. Global healthcare is estimated to grow to a $4 trillion opportunity by 2015.

Just to put this figure into perspective, it is equivalent to 27% of USA’s GDP. And what is India’s role in it?

Just like it happened with 80s’ manufacturing outsourcing to Japan & China, and 90s’ IT outsourcing to India, the developed world is once again poised to outsource – this time it’s healthcare needs – to countries like India.

BOOMINGMEDICALTOURISM • Global Healthcare is growing to a $4 trillion opportunity • India, Phillipines, & Thailand top medical tourism destinations • CII brings together 40 private hospitals for combined promotion • Indian healthcare costs only one-tenth to one-fifth of US healthcare • HSBC puts healthcare as a preferred way to capitalize in India • Singapore & Thailand hospitals enter Indian medical tourism sector • India to witness $45 billion worth healthcare infrastructure spend • India to be a destination for old age homes for Europeans

Indian healthcare services are nothing new to the West. While Indian pharma majors like Ranbaxy, Cipla, Wockhardt, & Dr. Reddy’s Labs, have made their presence felt in North America & Europe, Indian technology firms like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) handle research for global pharma majors like GlaxoSmithKline & Roche. And India is home to some of the best Contract Research Organizations (CRO) and Contract Manufacturing (CRAM) companies in the world. The country is also fast becoming the destination of choice for Clinical Research. Even medical tourism – which is actual clinical care – is nothing new to India. It is the momentum that has changed.

A recent international survey reveals that in 2007 the top destinations for American medical tourists were India, Philippines, & Thailand.

The recent months have seen hectic activity on India’s medical tourism front. Until now promotion of medical tourism has largely been on an isolated scale, being done by individual hospital groups like Apollo Hospitals, Fortis Healthcare, Max Healthcare, Wockhardt Hospitals, MIOT Hospitals, Frontier Lifeline, Narayana Hrudayalaya, Manipal Hospital etc.

But recently Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) has succeeded in bringing together 40 leading private hospitals to jointly present India’s case before the world community.

And it is a compelling case indeed.

A coronary bypass surgery costs around $6000 and a joint replacement around $6500 in India – figures that are one-tenth to one-fifth of what it costs in US or UK.

Dr. India!

Says Vishal Bali, CEO of Wockhardt Hospitals, “People in West are getting desperate for good, cheap and reliable medical care. That is why actual clinical care is now being outsourced to India.”

Global investment bank, HSBC, recently put healthcare as one of the best ways to capitalize in India.

The opportunity is so huge that it is no more the ‘Made in India’ hospitals that are in the fray. While some of the largest medical tourism hospitals in Asia are about to start operations in India, other major hospital groups from the continent are coming to India to make their start in the medical tourism industry. Even old-age homes & hospices exclusively for foreigners are starting to appear in India.

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India is clearly the emerging favourite among medical tourism destinations.

How is India going to capitalize on the opportunity?

Within the next 5 years, India will witness a spending of $45 billion in healthcare infrastructure, and by 2012 the industry size is expected to touch $80 billion.

Singapore Government has become the first to recognize India’s growth potential in this field, and has recently exhorted its industry to utilize this boom.

Singapore healthcare majors like Parkway Holdings and Pacific Healthcare have already entered the Indian market with one hospital each, and Singapore’s largest cord-blood bank, Cordlife, is setting up multiple centres across the country.

Dr. Philip Augustine, Managing Director of Cochinbased Lakeshore Hospital informs that one of the world’s foremost medical tourism hospitals from Thailand will soon tie up with Lakeshore to jointly promote medical tourism in India. Dr. Philip has been working closely with CII to create new initiatives for the medical tourism industry, one of which is the new national accreditation program for hospitals embarking

Fortis Hea lthcare, promoted by Ranbaxy, and led

by Malvin der Mohan Sin gh, is one of India’s fa stest growing h ospital chains wit h a sharp focus on m edical tourism.

Dr. India!

Wockhardt Hospitals Chairman Habil Khorakiwala and CEO Vishal Bali have made their hospitals ready for medical tourism, complete with JCI accreditation and international tie-ups.

on medical tourism. Until now, only international accreditations like the JCI were available, but which only a handful of corporate hospitals like Wockhardt & Apollo could afford.

Frontier Lifeline, the Chennai based major in Medical Tourism, founded by the renowned cardiac surgeon Dr. KM Cherian, vows by India’s strengths. Going beyond the price advantages in routine clinical care, Dr. Cherian - a champion of indigenous research - is directing Frontier Lifeline & Frontier Tissueline to regularly develop tissue-engineered products that cost only one-tenth of similar products from West.

Dr. Cherian is now in the process of setting up a new 1000-bedded Bio-Hospital in Chennai.

Another early mover in medical tourism is Chennaibased MIOT Hospitals, thanks to their pioneering work in hip & joint replacement. Says MIOT Chairman Mrs. Mallika Mohandas, “Now we are successfully

Dr. India! replicating this success in pinhole & keyhole surgeries.” MIOT has recently started assisting a hospital in Nigeria with a medical team and technical know-how. Though not explicitly intended to boost medical tourism, it might be a side-effect of this arrangement, and shows that the inflow of medical tourists can come from even Africa & Middle East.

However, India’s primary clientele in this sector remains the European and American patients. Patients from countries like UK are dejected with the long wait periods in NHS, while American patients nowadays have more than one reason to opt for Indian healthcare.

In America, where an employer or an insurance company is more likely to bear the cost of treating people, the initiative to opt for medical tourism is coming from the payers themselves.

To offset the rising healthcare costs, American employers have started making deals with Indian hospitals to get their employees treated here.

To coax their employees to opt for India, some companies are going all out with incentives – the employee can take a companion with him, and all their expenses like travel, accommodation, food etc will be paid for.

Chennai ba sed Fronti er Lifeline an d Frontier Tissueline, led by the renowned cardiac su rgeon Dr. KM Che rian, is now promoting a new 100 0-bed Bio Hospit indigenousl al and y developed tissue-eng ineered pro ducts, to contribu te to their medical to urism initia tive.

But will this tremendous growth

It is a package indeed fit to be called medical tourism.

Some US companies are going even beyond, and paying their employees 25% of the savings obtained by opting for Indian healthcare! Industry analysts feel that even then it is an advantageous deal for the employer as Indian healthcare services cost only 10-20% of American services. In any case, the interest shown by American companies is a development that can take medical tourism numbers from thousands to lakhs.

Leading American health insurance companies like Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Cigna, Aetna, Star Health and many others are also prime movers behind the emerging surge in medical tourists. Some of them have started presenting two kinds of premium before their clients – the regular premium for getting treated in USA, and a 40% discounted premium for getting treated in India.

Their primary target is the 20% of US population who still can’t afford health insurance. The fact that this 20% amounts to over 70 million people, should signal the growth potential for Indian medical tourism sector.

potential do anything at all for the poor sick in India? Not likely at all, unless the Government comes up with innovative measures to couple this growth potential with providing healthcare for the poor.

Because, India’s poor sick is indeed in a sick state.

A recent international study puts India’s rural healthcare standards even below our poor neighbour, Bangladesh.

Meeting emergency medical costs is the second most important reason why Indian families take loans from money lenders, shows another recent study. And probably, the most important reason why such families fall into endless financial turmoil. Still another national survey shows that healthcare cost is the third most important worry for even urban Indians.

Why are Indians unable to afford basic healthcare even after 60 years of planning? The reason is simple enough.

Says India’s health minister Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss,

Dr. India!

In a nation like India, where there is no social security system in place, healthcare should have been managed by either free public healthcare services or health insurance. But both are in pathetic states in the country.

For the last 30 years, public spending on health remains at a dismal low of 0.9% of GDP. And a recent McKinsey report finds that even by 2015, barely 25% of Indian population will be covered by health insurance. The reason is, again, IOTsimple enough – no affordable health Chennai-based M rly ea an ls, insurance products are there in the market. spita Ho mover in medical

The recently constituted National Rural Health Mission eir tourism due to th & jointbe the only initiative from the (NRHM) rtise in hipmay expe fast placement, is in re Government recent years that runs against this slide eir th g tin ca inrepli healthcare standards.

An ambitious 5-year / Rs. & le ho success in pin ys sa , ies 40,000 crore project, NRHM will once again try to er rg su keyhole manstate’s direct responsibility in providing Chair ensure the Mrs. Mallika healthcare, plus kick-starting the long awaited Public Mohandas.

Private Partnership (PPP) model.

As the first stage of this project, six AIIMS grade medical college hospitals are being set up in Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur, & Rishikesh, each at a cost of Rs. 1,500 crores. These 800-bed monster hospitals will be completed by 2009, and will be followed up by super-speciality hospitals in 11 states, and upgradation of 700 rural hospitals across the country. NRHM will also need to focus on telemedicine to bridge the urban-rural gap in doctors. ISRO is already providing telemedicine support to some hospitals like Narayana Hrudayalaya.

But the thrust of NRHM remains free healthcare. Is it a viable model in the long run? Recently, the move to introduce a new private ward with pay clinics at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, was met with stiff resistance from a section of the senior faculty, on idealistic grounds.

Today, India’s booming medical tourism industry takes pride in treating even patients rejected by systems like UK’s free National Health Services (NHS). Skill-wise that might be something, but it throws some interesting questions –

himself a medical doctor, “75% of health services in India are now provided by the private sector.” But the average Indian is finding it hard to afford those services. He brings home only Rs. 80 a day. Again, while 70% of India lives in her villages, over 75% of Indian doctors are working in urban areas.

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Dr. India!

will a completely free system work? Can we succeed where countries like UK have failed?

The lessons from USA are also tough. America spends $2,548 per person on healthcare. Still Americans are coming here to get treatment. So where will India end up, spending barely $7 per person?

There are many answers to this riddle, one of which comes from an Erode-based physician, Dr. Jeevanantham. He sets up small hospitals ranging in investment from Rs. 70 lakh to Rs. 3 crore on a noprofit no-loss basis. The hospitals are run as cooperative organizations with over 70 people contributing through 3-year interest free loans. Since there is no profit motive for the investors, treatment charges can be kept at a bare minimum – often only 30% of what private hospitals charge.

But it is a tough business. To make maximum utilization of funds, Dr. Jeevanantham has to carefully source his medical equipments – one of the biggest cost worries in hospital management. He goes in for Russian

d Shetty le Dr. Devi a n a y a r Na alaya of Hruday of e is one r lo Banga in ls a it sp o the few h ntry the cou ng both attempti and u to rism medical equipment, or Chinese instead of the more popular le affordab the r fo e American or German ones.

They are equally good, but r a healthc r. ral pooextensively rutested have to be before deployment as they

are rare in India, he says.

One of their hospitals was funded by Indian Medical Council doctors and the public, and inaugurated by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam last year.

But can experiments like Dr. Jeevanantham’s be replicated fast enough across the country? Highly unlikely, as it requires socially committed people like him, in thousands, for that to happen. Besides, the cooperative model is not a free model.

Other visionaries conversant with India’s healthcare challenge swear by easily affordable health insurance products. Several NGOs and a few state governments have come up with such schemes. Probably the best known among them is the Yashasvini scheme designed by Dr. Devi Shetty and implemented by the Karnataka Government in cooperation with hundreds of private hospitals in the state.

Dr. India!

The renowned paediatric cardiac surgeon who founded Narayana Hrudayalaya in Bangalore, designed Yashasvini as the world’s cheapest comprehensive health insurance scheme at just Rs. 5 per month per person. Yeshasvini has been a big hit among Karnataka’s farmers with over 2 million enrolments until now, making it the largest self-funded healthcare scheme in the world. The cashless and comprehensive nature of the treatment (it covers over 1600 defined surgeries), are its greatest attractions.

Yeshasvini has won admiration from the world over, with Harvard University and International Labour Organization (ILO) studying it in-depth, and Rockfeller Foundation planning to replicate it in African countries.

But are schemes like Yeshasvini the ultimate answer? While the world Cowhat chin baIndia studies its success, sed should L akeshore will soon Hospital tie up wit h one of w o foremost rld’s medical tourism hospitals from Th aila jointly p nd to romote medical to India, sa urism in ys Augustin Dr. Philip e, Mana ging Director .

study is why Yeshasvini hasn’t become the gigantic success it could have been by this time. Also to be studied is what prevents other state governments f r o m launching s i m i l a r schemes.

WORSENINGDOMESTICHEALTHCARE

• India lags even Bangladesh in rural healthcare standards • 75% of Indian health services are provided by private sector • Average Indians find it tough to afford private healthcare • Average daily income is still only Rs. 80 • India spends $7 per person on healthcare, against $2548 in US • Healthcare 3rd most important worry for even urban Indians • No affordable health insurance products in the market • Public Private Partnership (PPP) In any case, the model lacking

only way out is making India’s mighty private healthcare system contribute to the country’s public healthcare needs. The emerging boom in medical tourism will provide the funds for kickstarting such a major initiative. Provided, our leaders recognize this need and opportunity.

Padmasri Dr. PVA Mohandas led MIOT Hospitals of Chennai is celebrating its 10th anniversary in style. From 40 beds to 400 beds, and from a single speciality to a multi super speciality, MIOT has grown unbelievably fast in its first 10 years. The further vision of Dr. Mohandas and Chairman Mrs. Mallika Mohandas is even more challenging – to grow 25 times by the 12th anniversary by starting MIOT International, a new hospitalinside-hospital with 600 rooms and 15 operation theatres.

MIOT Hospitals

Padmasri Dr. PVA Mohandas

MIOT Hospitals Already a major player in medical tourism, MIOT Hospitals, however, is taking the vision to new levels.

‘MIOT International’ will consolidate the group’s initiatives till date into a standalone hospital within MIOT’s premises. There is nothing small in Dr. Mohandas’ vision. While Seasonal Magazine had first unravelled MIOT’s uncanny resemblance with the famed Mayo Clinic – in its redefinition of medical practice, familial origins, and mission statements – through our cover story ‘The Mayo of Madras’ (October 2008), Dr. Mohandas himself had recently stated in a press interview that he wants MIOT to be a Mayo of India in the years to come.

The aim of IGOF is to promote friendship, comradeship and collaboration between Indian and German Orthopaedic Surgeons. IGOF over the years has conducted several courses, symposia and seminars on various subjects connected with Trauma, Spinal Surgery and Joint Replacement Surgeries all over India. These courses are conducted twice a year in some part of the country. So far IGOF has conducted 20 courses in India.

The Foundation has awarded 62 Fellowships to Indian

However, he is not pinning all his hopes on the 600 bed / 15 OT MIOT International. He plans to establish MIOT Hospitals cum medical universities in Sri Lanka, West Indies, Burma, Vietnam, & Cambodia. His vision seems to be perfect in that, currently medical tourists at MIOT are made up mainly from Africa & Middle East. While the Chennai facility will continue to cater to these regions, the new planned hospitals will take the MIOT service to the Americas, and trans-Asia.

MIOT remains at the cutting edge of orthopaedic practice – its original speciality – also by collaborating extensively with the Indo German Orthopaedic Foundation (IGOF). September and October 2008 witnessed two such events. A 2-day international seminar on Hip & Knee Arthroplasty, attended by 400 delegates from the world over was conducted by IGOF at MIOT Hospitals during September. And in October, MIOT played host to the first IGOF course on Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery. This event was attended by 200 delegates from across the globe.

Surgeons to visit Orthopaedic Centres in Germany. IGOF has really contributed to improving the knowledge and skills of young Indian Surgeons. This year too IGOF is awarding 12 Fellowships to young Indian surgeons to visit Germany for 4 to 6 weeks.

Dr. Prithvi Mohandas

IGOF is the brainchild of Dr. PVA Mohandas and Prof.

Siegfried Weller, a German orthopaedic specialist who has contributed much to the Indian orthopaedic scene, as well as in the design of MIOT Hospitals.

MIOT is not just another swanky multi-super-speciality hospital, but involved in redefining how medical practice should be. MIOT Institute of Nephrology, MIOT Endovascular Centre for Aortic Aneurysm (METAA), MIOT Global Centre for Ideal Joints, and MIOT Institute of Research (MIR) are only the latest in a series of worldclass initiatives by this South Indian healthcare major.

Earlier, MIOT had become one of the first movers in keyhole surgeries, pinhole surgeries, computer navigated

Mrs. Mallika Mohandas

Arthroplasty, the long string of innovations for which this Chennai based multi-super-speciality hospital is famed for, has only gathered further momentum. Dr. Prithvi has earlier been a noted hip replacement surgeon in London. MIOT Centre for Ideal Joints, a first of its kind centre in India if not the Asia-Pacific, has been formed under his leadership.

MIOT is also strengthening its position in the nonorthopaedic segment, with some powerful initiatives like MIOT Institute of Nephrology.

Ever wondered why kidney transplants are tough? And often riddled with ethical abuse?

joint replacement, and medical tourism. MIOT also excels in healthcare philanthropy – the best example is, of course, CHIME, the free or subsidized heart surgery program for needy children by the MIOT Centre for Children’s Cardiac Care. And there are other similarities too. MIOT has a visionary family at its nucleus, but is run in an internationally professional style. MIOT’s has global tie-ups – with a German hospital for training and a Swiss hospital for stem cell research.

Ever since Dr. Prithvi Mohandas joined MIOT Hospital as Consultant Hip Surgeon and Director of Hip

The best source – and often the only source - for a replacement kidney is a near relative like spouse, parent, sibling, offspring etc. Nobody else would sacrifice such a vital organ for the patient. But this option is unavailable if there is a blood group mismatch between the donor and the recipient. Thus enter the kidney donors, the traffickers, and all the unethical stuff.

All that is history now for Chennaiites, and those who are willing to travel to Chennai from anywhere in the world. Because MIOT Institute of Nephrology has successfully pioneered in India a technology for ‘mismatched transplants’. The donor and recipient

MIOT Hospitals blood groups need not be the same anymore! It is as simple as that!

stay! Even the grafting of the organ to the recipient can be done through pinhole surgery.

Then why didn’t anyone else implement it earlier? Well, it is not as simple as that, from a hospital’s angle. The procedure requires administration of high-tech drugs that remove antibodies across three of four sessions.

MIOT has attracted Dr. Rajan Ravichandran, one of the most well-accomplished nephrologists in the world to head MIOT Institute of Nephrology as its Director.

Explains MIOT Chairman Mrs. Mallika Mohandas, “MIOT has been a pioneer in minimally invasive surgeries, first introducing keyhole surgeries and later their pinhole versions.”

The technology transfer comes from Japan, one of the few nations with this priceless know-how. MIOT Hospitals has invested Rs. 10 crore just to start this Institute of Nephrology, which features a 100 bed facility. Dr. Kazunari Tanabe, head of Renal Transplantation at Tokyo Women’s Medical University, who assisted MIOT in this technology transfer, was himself present in Chennai during the inauguration.

Mismatched transplants is the latest in a series of initiatives from MIOT Hospitals that “redefine medical practice” - a phrase that often crops up in the talks of Padmasri Dr. PVA Mohandas, Founder and Managing Director of MIOT Hospitals. This visionary claim is generally seen used by only a handful of the world’s finest hospitals, like the Mayo Clinic.

At MIOT, this redefining draws strength also from multiple technologies that MIOT has mastered earlier.

For example, mismatched transplants and laparoscopic nephrectomy are coupled together to achieve some unbelievable results. Nephrectomy is the surgical removal of a (donor) kidney, and laparoscopic nephrectomy is the same procedure done through a pinhole! The donating relative doesn’t have to bother about a large incision, significant pain, or a long hospital

SEASONAL 40

Today, medical innovations like these happen on a daily basis, but only at the world’s best hospitals. We wanted to know MIOT’s take on whether all such innovations need to be adapted to the Indian scenario.

It was Dr. Prithvi Mohandas, who is also the son of this Chairman-MD couple who answered our query. “Yes, what you indicate is true. As a cutting-edge hospital, we always have to take a choice when a new technology is available. There is a danger of simply going down the path of novelty only for the sake of progress. On the other hand, there is a fear of not providing newer and better alternatives to the patients. So the acid test before us is this – is it significantly better for the patient? If so, we go for it.”

“That is how we acted on most of our recent initiatives including mismatched transplants and ideal joints. Dr. Prithvi will explain to you the idea behind these new joints,” adds Mrs. Mallika.

“The beauty of Ideal Joints is that it is not about embracing the latest and greatest technology from West; but rather, inventing something uniquely for India,” Dr. Prithvi starts explaining.

MIOT Centre for Ideal Joints will – for the first time in India – design artificial joints specifically for the Indian

Dr. V V Bashi hip & joint peculiarities. Earlier, Indian patients had to ‘suffer’ joints made for Western or Japanese populations.

Centre for Ideal Joints is also planning to produce these Indian joints at one-tenth the cost of an imported joint, which is often upwards of Rs. 1.5 lakhs.

This new MIOT Centre will also serve as a Centre of Excellence and Reference Centre for Joint Replacement Surgery & Revision Surgery in the Asia Pacific. Says Dr. PVA Mohandas, “This comes naturally to MIOT, as we have the unparalleled achievement of over 15,000 hip replacements and over 6000 knee replacements to our credit.

Dr. PVA Mohandas has been the pioneering orthopaedic surgeon who introduced joint replacement in India in 1973, barely three years after this revolutionary technology’s international debut. He has worked hard to popularize it all over the country, as also some other orthopaedic techniques, which finally earned him the top national honour of Padmasri.

The familial roots of MIOT are, however, no hindrance for the hospital to attract and maintain one of the finest and most comprehensive team of doctors & surgeons, all of them working only for MIOT. It includes ‘best-intheir-class’ surgeons like Dr. VV Bashi and Dr. Barry D’ Rosario.

Better than explaining their roles at MIOT would be to illustrate some of their recent exploits.

24-year old Umiwana Chrisine of Rwanda was in a pretty bad shape when she was flown in to MIOT by the Rwandan Government. Tests revealed that she had severe leaks in two heart valves, many leaks in four segments of the aorta, and only one functioning kidney. What her condition called for was something rarely attempted in

cardiac practice, but under the masterful direction of Dr. VV Bashi, a team of cardiac surgeons, interventional cardiologists, cardiologists, & interventional radiologists went for it – a three-stage hybrid surgery involving three modes viz. open heart surgery, keyhole surgery, and finally pinhole surgery! The complex procedure was noted also for its inter-departmental coordination and innovation on the fly. In the final stage, the interventional radiologist (the pinhole surgeon) deployed a heart-specific implant outside the heart as suggested by Dr. Bashi. It has never been attempted before anywhere in the world. But it worked perfectly and Chrisine started smiling with relief for the first time in her life!

Dr. VV Bashi, one of the best-known cardiac surgeons in India and abroad, is the Chairman and Chief Surgeon of the MIOT Cardiac Care Unit. He is credited with performing the first extensive thoracic aortic aneurysm surgery in India, and was a pioneer in Beating Heart Surgery in the country. Like only the finest cardiac surgeons in the whole world, Dr. Bashi is a specialist in correcting congenital cardiac problems, valve repairs, and replacements. He has many complex surgeries to his credit in these difficult areas, and also does a huge volume of regular work that includes vascular & pulmonary operations and more than 5000 coronary bypass surgeries until now. He has performed over 1500 beating heart bypass surgeries with a success rate of 99.5%, which is exceptional even by world standards.

This is especially so, given his passion for performing complex operations on patients who have multiple complications and as such rejected by most hospitals.

Putting to good use the expertise of doctors like Dr. Bashi, MIOT has started a new initiative – MIOT Endovascular Centre for Aortic Aneurysm (METAA) – which transforms complex and risky aneurysm surgeries into neat and safe keyhole surgeries.

Endovascular Stenting, which is METAA’s main

MIOT Hospitals procedure, is done only in a handful of centres in the world, owing to the kind of equipments and expertise needed for it. METAA has been set up with an investment of Rs. 22 crore.

Numerous other departments also excel at MIOT. In fact, Dr. Mohandas’ principal vision for MIOT Hospitals is for it to be a group of Centres of Excellence.

Dr. Barry D’ Rosario has always been a strength for MIOT, who together with Dr. PVA Mohandas, has contributed much to MIOT’s original status as a Centre of Excellence in Orthopaedics. Dr. Barry is the Director, MIOT Centre for Joint Replacement Surgery.

Under their guidance, MIOT has already arrived at the gold standard – computer-navigated minimally invasive joint replacement, being the world’s 3rd hospital and Asia-Pacific’s 1st to start it.

Other initiatives from the Group include MIOT Retreat and MIOT College of Nursing. With Retreat, the hospital is implementing the concept of extended care for patients who require longer stays. They can stay with their families in a more cost-effective fashion. The green campus of MIOT which did away with stock hospital symbols like “emergency”, “casualty” etc is the perfect setting for MIOT Retreat too.

Yet, for all its laidback serenity, the MIOT design can rise up to any demanding occasion with clinical precision and efficiency. This is largely due to the role a team of doctors, including Dr. Mohandas, had played in co-designing each floor, connection, elevator, lobby, facility, operation theatre, and room. Features include separate entrances and corridors for emergency outpatients, inpatients, public, and service personnel, so that there is no crowding at any point even in case of multiple emergency cases being brought in simultaneously. As a hospital that also specializes in trauma, any emergency trauma, accident, stroke, or heart attack patients can be efficiently brought in, resuscitated, attended to, or taken for emergency surgery, without wasting precious seconds. In fact, MIOT is perhaps the only Trauma Centre comparable to US Level 1 Trauma Centres. Even many healthcare professionals will be surprised to know that at MIOT, the ‘Door to CT Time’ including preliminary resuscitation, for head injury cases, is less than 7 minutes, a speed which is even better than in many US hospitals!

MIOT has collaboration with Klinikum Hospital, Stuttgart, Germany, for exchange of specialists, training of nurses, and treatment of patients. The core domains

of collaboration include orthopaedics, trauma management, cardiology, & cardiothoracic surgery. The German Government-run Klinikum Hospital and MIOT had been working together for some time now. MIOT also sends surgeons and nurses to get world-class training from this German hospital.

The hospital has been quite active in research, and has entered the super-specialised research area of stem cells nearly one year back. MIOT Institute of Research (MIR) is in collaboration with University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland, and is headed by Dr. Omana Trentz a veteran in this hightech field. Unlike many such initiatives that work on the theoretical front, the focus of MIR is actual stem cell therapy and specializes in culturing stem cells from the same individual for his or her own use!

Today, MIOT has over 45 full-fledged departments including Orthopaedics, Diabetology, Oral & Maxillo-Facial Surgery, ENT, Head, & Neck Surgery, Pulmonary Medicine & Critical Care, Dermatology, General Surgery, Radiology & Imaging Sciences, Spinal Surgery, Ophthalmology, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Neurosurgery, Cardiology, Nephrology, Gastroenterology Surgery & Minimally Invasive GI Surgery, Preventive Health Care, Neurology & Neurosciences, Joint Replacement Surgery, Weight Loss Surgery (Bariatric Surgery), Accident & Trauma Care, Trauma Surgery, Paediatric Orthopaedics, Orthopaedic Oncology, MicroVascular & Plastic Surgery, Thoracic & Cardio Vascular

Care, Rheumatology, Urology, Paediatrics, General Medicine & Geriatric Care, Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation, Endocrinology, Dental, Master Health Check & Special Check, Microbiology, Transfusion Medicine, Ultrasound, Pathology & Clinical Laboratory, Knee Surgery & Sports Medicine, Anaesthesia, Department of External Fixation (Limb Equalization), Diseases of the Hip & Hip Surgery, Back School (for Back Pain), Physiotherapy, and International Patient Care.

FRONTIER MEDIVILLE

FROM FRONTIER LIFELINE The future of healthcare is not happening in US. But in a hitherto nondescript villagecalledElavur,45kmfromChennai,SouthIndia’sbiggestmetropolis.India’s firstmedicalSEZishappeninghereon365acresofland,andrefreshinglyitisnotby realestategiantsorcorporatehospitals.Andsurprisingly,notnamedamedi-citytoo.

Frontier Mediville is the brainchild of Dr. KM Cherian, one of the world’s most accomplishedcardiacsurgeons.Amedicalentrepreneurwhoisbuildingoneofthe largest medical facilities in the world, but who still prefers to be a surgeon to his patients from over 21 countries. Mediville has no role model in the world, not with componentslikeaNationalMedicalScienceParkandaBioHospital.Instead,Mediville will be the role model for the future. y middle-age, most successful doctors want to start a hospital on their own. But by the time he reached middle-age, Dr. KM Cherian had started or helped start four hospitals, including a medical college.

And not for his own cause, one was even in the public sector.

That Dr. KM Cherian thinks differently from most medical entrepreneurs, need not be said anymore. But how differently, one would be awed, when hearing about the upcoming Frontier Mediville.

One among the world’s most accomplished cardiac surgeons, Dr. KM Cherian wants nothing short of redefining medical practice through his brainchild, Frontier Mediville. The scope of this integrated medical village goes beyond even medicine.

Being planned at a cost of Rs. 1500 crores, Frontier Mediville will span nearly 400 acres near Chennai, and will be built over the next 10 years, starting now.

People who know Dr. Cherian up-close and personal know that he is not that megalomaniacal kind out to build that next money-spinning, fame-spinning project. In fact, as Dr. Cherian himself says, he is attempting just the reverse. Sharing the credit as well as responsibility for this project with other giants – from worldwide as well as from India’s public sector – Dr. Cherian is designing and building Frontier Mediville on his longstanding belief and practice that, “Healthcare might be an industry, but caring for the sick is not an industry.”

The larger-than-life scale of the project is evident from the PPP/SEZ nature of the project, the collaborations with Australian, Japanese, & Korean research organizations, the equipment grants from Department of Science & Technology, TIDCO’s involvement, the agreement with Railways for ‘adopting’ a local railway station, and, of course, CM Karunanidhi’s personal participation in the launch.

That it is not just a money-spinner project is evident from the fact that Mediville’s first phase is going to be a unique National Medical Science Park. It will be followed up by a Bio Hospital, an Ayurvedic & Alternative Medicine Centre, a Herbarium,

MoU formalized with Tamil Nadu Government between Frontier Lifeline & TIDCO

a Medical University, a Research & Training Centre, and a Sterile Biomedical Corridor.

On the treatment side, the project will address the entire spectrum of patients – from the economically challenged to the medical tourists.

Also being built as a major tourist cum hospitality cum residential centre, non-medical attractions in Frontier Mediville include a star hotel, shopping mall, senior citizens’ enclave, residential quarters, an 18-hole golf course, and many such premium amenities. Frontier Lifeline is investing Rs. 150 crore to fund the first phase of the project which is to be completed within two years.

What prompted you for this larger-than-life scale and scope that we see in Mediville’s plans?

Nothing or nobody prompted me, as such. I mean, nothing human. It just came to me. And I realized that it is an enormous opportunity. But I am not a businessman. I won’t go around asking investors to take shares, like how these corporate hospitals do. And I am not a rich man, or born to a rich father. But my real father is rich, richer than Bill Gates. It is He who prompts me. My job is to listen and carry it out.

FRONTIER MEDIVILLE You have been a critic of business groups with non-medical background coming into medical townships. Can you explain why?

I am a critic because I believe that though healthcare might be an industry, caring for the sick should not be an industry.

Caring for the sick is about empathy and expertise. I am an expert cardiac surgeon. Complicated cases come to me from all over India and abroad. I still operate on two cases daily, and my patients include neonates to old people. Forget doing such complex feats, how many doctor-turned-entrepreneurs can carry on with even their simple practice? It is not easy, because they are businessmen first. They lose their empathy, their expertise. Imagine the situation then when business groups with no background in medicine enter this field.

That is why I don’t feel great about what CII and all are trying to do in this sector. They are industrialists, not practising doctors.

Can you explain the concept of a Bio Hospital? How will Mediville fare in this sector?

It is a complex subject. I will put it in a different way for you. There are no bio hospitals in the world as of now. But there will be 18 bio hospitals in the world by 2015. US, Japan, & South Korea will dominate this sector. Apart from the Japanese and the Korean hospitals, ours will be the only bio hospital in Asia. This novel concept came to me, thanks to my interactions with some international giants in healthcare. A bio hospital basically combines allopathic clinical medicine with ayush and biotechnology. By ayush I mean alternative practices like Ayurveda, Siddha, & Unani, and under biotechnology I refer to technologies like tissue engineering, nanotechnology, & biotechnology. Now nobody has as much as heard of bio hospitals, but I guess

Boomi Pooja Function at �Project site on 8th March, 2008

FROM FRONTIER LIFELINE now many will start speaking about it.

We have been hearing about regenerative medicine. What is it all about?

The focus of a bio hospital is regenerative medicine. A small example would help you understand. When the liver grows old, it sends signals. Today there is technology to interpret from which portion of the liver these distress signals are coming. And in ayush, we have the regenerative medicines for liver. Combine it with a high-tech delivery system, and there you see regenerative medicine in action. The concept of a bio hospital is comprehensive and holistic. It is way apart from the usual gimmick of a corporate hospital buying the next version of imported equipment and trying to make big money out of it.

You seem very confident about undertaking a mega project like Frontier Mediville. What is behind this confidence?

Frontier Lifeline is not a big hospital. Just one speciality – heart. Do you know of any hospital that survives on one speciality these days? We are not only surviving, but growing at a furious pace. How can we do it? Simply because, our technology and expertise in cardiac care are superior. Patients come looking for us, or they get referred to us from across India, and over 21 countries. This is what is behind our confidence. Mediville is not about my cleverness. It is about somebody prompting you to do it. If I am ordained to do it, who can stop it from happening?

Can you provide us with some instances of this superior expertise in action?

Yes, of course. Be it cutting-edge surgeries or original R&D, Frontier Lifeline is way ahead of the rest of the pack. Today, many hospitals claim to do heart transplants. We don’t go around claiming anything, but it is we who do a heart transplant almost every week. Such cases simply come to us.

Donating a heart is a serious decision, and the spouse, parent, or sibling, of the donor wants their dear one’s heart to survive.

That is why they come to Frontier. Similar is the case with our R&D. We have developed our own heart valves from pigs, and valved conduits from buffalo jugular veins – which only a global giant, Medtronic, has done before. We have

started applying stem cell therapy for heart disease, which is the first such initiative in India. We are doing the kind of works that others will take years to just figure out.

Your expertise is well acknowledged in the field. But what about teamwork?

Nobody can do this alone. We succeed because we are a great team. We have the right people, and they are provided with the right environment, and the right motivation. Frontier is all about collectiveness and team spirit. That is why many corporate hospitals find it pretty difficult to compete with us. Their doctors are just not interested in building the institution. For them it is just a job, to make some money.

But here everyone is motivated, as collectiveness is promoted. That is why I always tell my team that we need not be rich at all. This team spirit is the biggest wealth.

Many medi-cities have been proposed or launched. How will be your project different?

First of all, ours is not being called a medi-city. We have purposely named it Mediville to contrast. The reason is simple. It was from villages that we all started. And we are not building the next mega multi-super-speciality hospital.

Even the bio hospital won’t be the first project in Mediville.

First we are going to build a National Medical Science Park, which will be the first of its kind in India.

That sounds interesting. Can you explain this Medical Science Park?

People, and even some doctors, mistakenly think that it is high-tech equipment and money that Indian healthcare lacks. Our real problem is lack of research in basic sciences, the supporting sciences of medicine. Only when we address this issue can we dream of being a healthcare major.

Mediville’s National Medical Science Park will be an ambitious project to address this gap. The Park will have four components – an Animal House named Bose’s Proof of Concept, a Research Block named Da Vinci’s Synthesis of Science, a Training Centre named Plato’s Academy, and a Convention Centre named Flamingo. By this we are honouring giants of science and teaching like Plato, Da Vinci, & Jagadish Chandra Bose. The convention centre is named Flamingo because it’s architecture is like that of a giant flamingo in the Pulighat Lake where flocks of flamingos come every year.

How did you arrange the land and basic infrastructure for Mediville?

We have acquired around 400 acres of land, which contains a 111 acre lake. Since nobody has such vast lands there, we acquired it from the state government as well as many farmers. Part of the land is marked for a medical SEZ. Frontier is a small group, but we were the first to get a medical SEZ approved in the whole country. For the National Medical Science

‘Flamingo’ - Convention Centre in “Frontier Mediville”

National Medical Science Park with ‘Flamingo’ Convention Centre in “Frontier Mediville”

FRONTIER MEDIVILLE Park, we will get a Rs. 11 crore grant from Department of Science & Technology. As I told you earlier, we need not have all the money with us, as long as our purpose is honest and we are willing to work hard for it.

Are you planning to bring in some PE funds?

No, not at all. Some big names in private equity came to me. I politely refused. They don’t know my history. I had forsaken a 68,000 dollars job in US to take a 742 rupee job with Indian Railways. So, why should I bother about money? I can take any risk. Can anybody take zero from zero? Even if they can, zero will remain. I am confident of doing this without bigticket funds, because there is a purpose beyond me in this project.

Do you have a role model for Mediville in any part of the world?

No. We can’t find one. Instead, we will be the role model for others to emulate. We are doing so many innovations in this project. We have planted 7500 sandalwood saplings, which will grow to a sandalwood forest. How many of us have ever walked in a sandalwood forest? We have also planted 27 trees for the 27 star signs. It is said that if you meditate under your star sign tree, you gather physical and mental well-being. Also being planted are Arjuna trees and an extensive garden of herbal trees. The herbarium will be a joint project with Asia Pacific Bio Resources Consortium, a leader in this segment. And we are collaborating with the South Korean scientists through KRIBB, who are world leaders in genetic engineering and cloning.

Will Mediville have a major medical tourism initiative?

You will be surprised to know that more than 30 years back, even before the term ‘medical tourism’ was coined, I was attending to patients from many neighbouring countries. Today, at a small hospital like Frontier Lifeline, we operate on patients from 21 countries. So you can imagine what will be the scope for Mediville. But we don’t like to brag about these things. If you are good, patients will come from everywhere. You don’t have to promote it as medical tourism.

What will be the employment generation potential of Mediville?

Already 150 local people have been employed in the project.

Around 1.5 years back, we took 6 girls from poor background and trained them in stem cells, tissue engineering, nanotechnology etc. You will be surprised to know of their formal education – SSLC, pass or fail. Now they are gainfully employed with us. We proved that fancy degrees, PGs, & PhDs are not necessary for many tasks in this sector. This shows our farsightedness. When it is complete, Mediville is expected to provide 3000 villagers with direct jobs.

How do you plan to address the healthcare needs of the economically challenged patients?

We have always been a socially responsible hospital. We are not here to exploit anybody. During the 5 years of our existence, we have forsaken over Rs. 6 crores as free or subsidized treatment to deserving patients. And we cooperate with all government initiatives. We also do many free camps regularly.

At Mediville too, this culture will continue. But at the same time, we won’t allow anybody to exploit our generosity. We have had an instance where a girl was flown in on a chartered flight from North India, but on successful discharge, her relatives wanted a big concession! Nobody is giving us funds to run this as a charity. We still do charity because we feel that unfortunate people should be helped. We are able to do charity because we are not answerable to a huge shareholder community. People should realize this. A tailor can forsake his stitching charges, but can he buy cloth for a poor man and stitch? I don’t think mindless charity would work out in the long run.

What do you want your team to learn from you?

Not much. They are all professionals in their own right, and with much younger energy than me. But one thing I always tell my team. God gives you nuts, but He doesn’t crack it for you too. Cracking and eating are up to you. Same with opportunities.

It is up to us to utilize opportunities. But the biggest problem is that people don’t realize opportunities for what they are.

What do you want to leave as a legacy?

People will be remembered for their actions. That is why Mother Theresa, Gandhi, & Martin Luther King are loved and remembered by millions. And why, a rich man like Rockfeller is not popular or remembered. I too want to be remembered for my actions. I am a cardiac surgeon. I will continue to do surgeries as long as I am fit to do it. Then maybe I will retire and oversee Mediville.

WOCKHARDT HOSPITAL & HEART INSTITUTE “India is a Developed Nation, Here”

Habil Khorakiwala, Chairman

Habil Khorakiwala answered Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam’s call to build a Developed India during his inaugural speech for the 3 lakh sq. ft Wockhardt Biotechnology Park, with these simple words, “His Excellency, this is Wockhardt’s contribution to building a new India where people are proud of being Indians.” As the Founder and Chairman of Wockhardt, the Purdue & Harvard educated Habil has personally overseen his vision of a world class Indian healthcare organization blossom from a start-up pharma company in the 1960s to a US$ 1.3 billion diversified, research-driven pharma, biotech, & hospital conglomerate with operations across the globe, including formidable markets like UK, Germany, & US, and employing 4000 professionals. The group’s flagship project in hospitals, the internationally renowned Wockhardt Hospital & Heart Institute at Bangalore, has always set standards in cardiac care in the Australasia region, with pioneering heart surgeons like Dr. Vivek Jawali, the association with Harvard Medical International (HMI), and passionate leaders like Hospitals Vice-President Vishal Bali. With the coveted international JCI accreditation under its belt for the Mumbai Hospital – the first time in South Asia – Bali’s words “India is a Developed Nation Here, at Wokhardt”, ceases to be a tall claim.

WOCKHARDT HOSPITAL & HEART INSTITUTE The name Wockhardt brings different images to different minds.

country’s 4th largest pharma company, which is also UK’s second largest generics supplier to hospitals.

For a Bangalorean, the cutting-edge service in cardiac care at Cunningham Road, comes up.

The name Wockhardt brings other images too. For different segments of India.

For a Mumbaiite, the cluster of six Speciality Hospitals at Mulund – South Asia’s first JCI certified facility - comes up.

For diabetics, it brings to mind Wosulin, the first Recombinant Insulin to be made outside US & Europe, which brought down insulin prices by 40%.

For a Kolkotan, it brings to mind the renowned Kidney Institute at Rash Behari Avenue.

For Kidney and Cancer patients, it brings to mind Wepox, the brand that brought down Erythropoietin prices by 60%.

For a Nagpurian, the premium Heart Hospital at Corporation Colony, comes up.

For those millions living in high-risk at Mumbai’s infamous red-light districts, the name is synonymous with the 4000 health volunteers trained by WHARF (Wockhardt HMI HIV/AIDS Education & Research Foundation), who patiently teach them how to live risk-free.

For a Hyderabadian, the images of the Speciality Hospital at Abdis, or the Heart Centre at Kamineni Hospitals, come up.

(L to R) Wockhardt Hospitals Vice-President Vishal Bali, Group Chairman Habil Khorakiwala, and Harvard Medical International’s (HMI) Dr. Harvey Makadon, announcing JCI accreditation for Wockhardt Hospital Mumbai – a first in the whole of South Asia.

For an Aurangabadian, the name is something to be immensely proud of, associated with the 3 lakh sq. ft. stateof-the-art Biotech Park, which can meet 15% of the world’s biopharmaceuticals requirement.

For employees of bluechips ranging from ICICI to Standard Chartered, Wipro to TCS, Accenture to IBM, the name is associated with company sponsored world-class hospital treatment and preventive healthcare programs like Master Health Check, Executive Health Check, Well Woman Check etc.

For someone even remotely associated with India’s pharmaceutical sector, Wockhardt brings to mind the

For the villagers of Baniari, in Gujarat, the name is equivalent to new life; for their earthquake devastated village was rebuilt from scratch by this company and its employees – including a panchayat house, school, primary health centre, community centre, cattle shed, and playground.

However, many of the tsunami victims may not recall the name Wockhardt. Because, Wockhardt’s and it’s employees’ 1-day salary contribution of Rs. 50 lakhs in cash was provided indirectly, through the trusted Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. Still, many of the tsunami affected ill must have taken Wockhardt medicines; because the company had rushed Rs. 10 lakh worth of life-saving medicines free to the tsunami victims.

WOCKHARDT HOSPITAL & HEART INSTITUTE The Breakthrough Specialist and the Dream Team Dr. Prof. Vivek Jawali seems addicted to bettering cardiac surgical techniques – otherwise how can this Chief Cardiac Surgeon at Wockhardt Bangalore, pioneer so many innovations, some of them for the first time in the world? His answer – “It is a Dream Team at Wockhardt.”

In 1994, Dr. Vivek Jawali pioneered Beating Heart Coronary Bypass Surgery in the entire Australasia region.

For the medically less enlightened, here is a layman explanation – the heart is not stopped as in conventional surgery, while the surgeon’s scalpel operates on the heart, but keeps on beating…tick…tick…tick. Frightened? Don’t be. Dr. Vivek and his team at Wockhardt have been routinely doing Beating Heart Surgeries since 1997. Many patients require only Beating Heart Surgery, and it is safer.

And, there are more fitting things in Dr. Vivek’s arsenal to bein awe at.

In 2002, Dr. Vivek and his team pioneered something called Awake Heart Surgery in India. You guessed it – the patient stays wide awake while his heart is operated upon, of course, with his heart beating! Terrified? Don’t be. Since 2002, Dr. Vivek and his team have performed more than 300 Awake Beating Heart Coronary Bypass Surgeries, and more than 100 Awake On-pump Open Heart Surgeries.

These procedures are ideally suited for those patients who can’t be given general anaesthesia due to various complications. To eliminate pain, they will be administered high thoracic epidural analgesia, a high-precision procedure.

But, his patients are not scared. Because, Dr. Vivek has done 15,000 cardiac surgeries in his career, and they know that he and his team wouldn’t spare even the most challenging of techniques to bring them back to safety.

Says, Dr. Vivek, “The techniques that we pioneered at Wockhardt brings new hope and life to patients who require heart surgery but are routinely classified as inoperable due to multiple complications like lungs and kidney diseases.”

Reflecting their world-class work, Dr. Vivek’s and his team’s achievements have enjoyed 26 publications in the leading medical journals of the world!

The Interventional Cardiology team headed by Dr. Ranganath Nayak undertakes the whole range of interventional cardiology procedures, some of them rarely attempted elsewhere in India. Each year the team performs

And, there are even more complicated things that Dr. Vivek and his team has pioneered.

Their latest achievement is not an India’s First or even an Australasia’s First. It is a World’s First. The first Awake Beating Twin Surgery – i.e. a Coronary Bypass Surgery and an Open Heart Surgery to replace the diseased Aortic Valve, done simultaneously on a patient – without general anaesthesia or ventilator! Scared Stiff? We can’t blame you!

more than 500 angioplasties and over 2500 cardiac interventions including paediatric catheterizations.

Apart from Dr. Prof. Vivek Jawali and Dr. Ranganath Nayak, other cardiac team members at Wockhardt include Dr. KN Srinivas as Consultant Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgeon, Dr. Subash Chandra as Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Dr. Murali Chakravarthy as Chief Cardiac Anaesthesiologist, and Dr. VS Prakash and Dr. S. Jayprakash as Consultant Cardiac Electrophysiologists.

WOCKHARDT HOSPITAL & HEART INSTITUTE “Our Infrastructure Enabled a Culture of Pioneering, Which Gave Us a Head-start in Medical Tourism” The 1st single speciality corporate heart hospital in India was also the country’s 1st heart hospital to achieve ISO 9002 certification. Also, the 1st hospital in the entire Australasia region to perform ‘minimally invasive beating heart coronary artery bypass surgery’. But Wockhardt’s history of firsts doesn’t end there – in fact, to list all of them here, will require more than this page! But, as Vice-President Vishal Bali says, “Even more important is the infrastructure that helped develop this Wockhardt culture of innovation and pioneering achievements – that also gave us a head-start in attracting foreign patients.”

Gordon Bates, a former power-lifting champion from Sussex, UK, had a severe cardiac arrest and was flown in a very critical condition to Wockhardt Bangalore. Dr. Vivek Jawali and his team performed an emergency beating heart bypass surgery with five grafts on Bates. After the highly successful surgery it took only 10 days for Bates to leave the Wockhardt ICU and fly back to UK. Ian Stanley Brown, a businessman from Yorkshire, UK, was diagnosed with a critical single vessel block, and needed a coronary angioplasty. But if he had to do it in UK, Brown faced a 3-month wait, due to the huge waiting

lists in that country. Brown flew over to Bangalore, and got admitted at Wockhardt, where Chief Consultant Cardiologist Dr. P Ranganath Nayak performed a coronary angioplasty using a drug eluting stent. Fully satisfied with the result, Brown was discharged on the 3 rd day after the procedure.

Patients like Gordon Bates and Ian Stanley Brown are just two of the numerous patients from Europe and USA, who arrive every month at Wockhardt Bangalore. Before many other hospitals even started planning for medical tourism, Wockhardt Bangalore has been in the thick of things – maybe the finest example for medical tourism in the whole of India.

How is this possible? Of course, Wockhardt’s global alliances with Harvard Medical International (HMI), and Western health insurance giants help a lot, but even more important is Wockhardt’s cutting-edge infrastructure that has enabled specialists like Dr. Vivek and Dr. Ranganath to pioneer advanced procedures in India, that international patients like Gordon Bates and Ian Stanley Brown are looking for.

For example, the surgery done on Bates – the beating heart bypass surgery – was pioneered in the whole of Australasia

by Dr. Vivek at Wockhardt, while for the cardiac procedure done on Brown – angioplasty with drug eluting stents – Wockhardt is one of the leading hospitals in the Asian subcontinent.

Today, Wockhardt infrastructure is at the cutting-edge in the whole range of cardiology and cardiac surgery procedures including, coronary bypass graft surgery, conscious off pump coronary bypass surgery, open heart surgeries, valve replacements & repairs, coronary angiography, coronary angioplasty with stenting, electrophysiology & pacing, heart failure devices, combination devices & ICD implantations, amplatz device closures, balloon valvuloplasties, non coronary interventions etc.

WOCKHARDT HOSPITAL & HEART INSTITUTE “The Expertise of Harvard Medical School is Exclusive to Us – in South Asia” Doctors at Wockhardt Bangalore are in constant interaction with the clinical teams at such legendary US hospitals like Massachusetts General Hospital, Beth Israel Hospital, and Boston Medical Centre, thanks to its exclusive affiliation with Harvard Medical International (HMI).

Harvard University needs no introduction. The Ivy League University’s Medical School also needs no introduction; it is the research capital of modern medicine.

HMI – Harvard Medical International – is a subsidiary of this renowned medical school which aims to bring together the expertise of healthcare professionals from around the world – it has presence in 5 continents - for improving the delivery of healthcare.

The vision of HMI is that every citizen of the world should have access to quality healthcare in their own country.

HMI works by affiliating hospitals into its program, but is very selective in choosing, which is evident from the fact

that until now only 18 countries in the world has HMI affiliated hospitals.

For example, in South Asia, there is no other HMI affiliated hospital apart from Wockhardt Bangalore. It speaks volumes about the high regard in which Wockhardt’s achievements have been considered by cutting-edge agencies in the West.

HMI extends Harvard Medical School’s as well as the affiliated hospitals’ vast knowledgebase in clinical medicine, biomedical research, & medical education, to Wockhardt, which in turn is thus better equipped to bring to its patients the global standards in clinical expertise

and technology, related to the management of cardiac disorders.

Thanks to this alliance, the Wockhardt clinical team constantly interacts and learns from the legendary clinical teams at HMI affiliated hospitals in the US, like Massachusetts General Hospital, Beth Israel Hospital, and Boston Medical Centre.

Doctors at Wockhardt can benefit from such high-profile, high-energy interactions, because, most Wockhardt surgeons and cardiologists have been educated or trained at some of the best teaching hospitals in the world like Mayo Clinic, Texas Heart Institute, Cleveland Clinic, and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Wockhardt is also associated with a string of Western medical insurance giants – a fact that has enabled Wockhardt to emerge to the forefront of Medical Tourism in India. Many of these are exclusive arrangements, which again speak about the high regard in which Wockhardt is considered in the West. For example, Wockhardt is the first and only hospital in South Asia to be recognised by Blue Cross & Blue Shield Association, which is the largest health insurance company in the USA. Other insurance giants in USA, Europe, & Asia, which has recognised Wockhardt include BUPA (UK), AEA International (Singapore), Global Emergency Services (USA), Medex (USA), Global Medical Management (USA), Assist America (USA), and GESA Assistance (Singapore).

WOCKHARDT HOSPITAL & HEART INSTITUTE “A Developed India, For Helping More Patients”

Habil Khorakiwala’s dream of a world-class Indian healthcare company, which began materializing in the early 1960s, crossed its most important milestone when Wockhardt Hospital & Heart Institute was started at Bangalore in 1990. Since then, several important milestones have been crossed including superspeciality hospitals at multiple cities, recognition as a superbrand, the biotechnology park, and recently the prestigious JCI certification for the Mumbai hospital. But something bigger is coming, and it is happening at Bangalore.

The new 350-bedded multi-super-speciality Wockhardt Hospital coming up at Bangalore

Wockhardt Hospital & Heart Institute is not just 15 years old; it is also 15,000 heart surgeries old. This flagship hospital of Wockhardt, at Bangalore, still performs more than 1200 cardiac surgeries and 2500 cardiac interventions each year, with amazing success rates that match the best in the world. But it is time to move on, for the Bangalore team, to bigger things. And, it is coming.

Because, since 1990, things have moved at a rapid pace for Wockhardt, outside of Bangalore.

The cluster of six super-speciality hospitals at Mumbai, for instance. Spanning 6 specialities, the 222-bed group of hospitals at Mulund including, Wockhardt Heart

Hospital, Wockhardt Brain & Spine Hospital, Wockhardt Bone & Joint Hospital, Wockhardt Eye Hospital, Wockhardt Minimal Access Surgery Hospital, and Wockhardt Diabetes Clinic, have brought acclaim to the group by being the first JCI certified facility in South Asia.

But fresh energy will once again be Wockhardt Bangalore’s when the new state-of-the-art 350-bedded multi-super-speciality Wockhardt Hospital opens soon in South Bangalore, opposite IIM in Bannerghatta Road.

It will have the super specialities of cardiology / cardiac surgery, orthopaedics, neurology / neurosurgery, & women’s health.

We asked Vishal Bali and Vijayarathna Venkatraman of Wockhardt about the unique vision behind the new hospital. Their replies were almost unanimous – “Wockhardt Hospitals is about bringing healthcare as found in the developed nations, to India. Our new hospital at Bangalore will bring such world-class healthcare to more patients.”

MANIPAL HOSPITAL Gigantic in Scale, Masterly in Skills, Sensitive in Service Manipal Hospital, the first multi-super-speciality tertiary care facility in Bangalore is designed to overwhelm. Its scale of operation is rare, its mastery of skills, unique, and the comfort that it offers, world-class. At 650 beds, 275 doctors, 1700 support staff, 43 specialities, and 8 Centres of Excellence, like the renowned Manipal Heart Foundation, competition on scale is indeed rare. With second-to-none expertise in super-specialist departments like Cardiology & Cardiac Surgery, Neurology & Neuro Surgery, Nephrology & Urology, Oncology, and state-ofthe-art Diagnostics, competition based on skills is also uncommon. And with a centrally air-conditioned environment and world-class facilities that satisfy even the most demanding of medical tourists, competition on comfort is almost non-existent. Perhaps, the only organization that can dwarf this hospital is its parent, Manipal Health Systems, which is Asia’s largest hospital management group, which owns 11 hospitals with 7500 beds, and manages 14 medical colleges with 9000 students! Manipal Health Systems treats a whopping 10.30 lakh people as outpatients and 1.80 lakh as inpatients, every year! Still, Manipal Hospital at Bangalore is the Group’s poster-boy – India’s first tertiary care hospital that is ISO certified for clinical protocols, nursing, diagnostics, & allied services.

MANIPAL HOSPITAL Imagine a town becoming a brand.

Maybe, Oxford comes to your mind.

Now, imagine an unknown Indian town becoming a national & international brand. That is just one of the miracles Dr. TMA Pai did, during his inimitable life.

by Manipal Health Systems teach nearly 9000 students, for their MBBS, paramedical courses, & various postgraduations.

The achievements of Manipal Health Systems in community service are also unparalleled. In full synergy with the vision of its philanthropic founder, Dr. TMA Pai, the group runs 55 Community Development Projects, 19 Primary Healthcare Centres, & 7 Feeder Hospitals.

Today, Manipal is referred to as India’s University Town. Starting with Kasturba Medical College at Manipal in 1953, Dr. TMA Pai systematically built up the Manipal Group, which is today India’s largest private education initiative, with 100 Institutes & 500 No doubt, Manipal Hospital at centres spread all over India, and an Bangalore too has imbibed much from intake of 80,000 students every year! this rich legacy in healthcare & Dr. T Ramdas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Group The Group has also spread beyond healthcare education. But, more India, with significant presence in the Middle East, Nepal, Sri Lanka, accurate would be to state that Manipal Hospital has grown to be the & Malaysia. pinnacle of achievement for the entire Manipal Health Systems.

Manipal Health Systems, the largest component of the Group, is today Asia’s largest hospital management group! Unbelievable? Need not be.

Structured around 6 Healthcare Systems at 6 Hubs viz. Bangalore, Manipal, Mangalore, Gangtok (Sikkim), Pokhara (Nepal), & Melaka (Malaysia), the group runs 11 hospitals and manages 14 medical colleges.

Having 7500 beds, & 1250 doctors, Manipal Health Systems provides treatment to 10.30 lakh people as outpatients, and 1.80 lakh as inpatients, every year! And with 275 faculty staff, the 14 medical colleges managed

Started in 1990 by Dr. T Ramdas Pai, the distinguished son of Dr. TMA Pai, Manipal Hospital was the first tertiary level multi-super-speciality referral hospital in Bangalore. And ever since its start, Manipal Hospital has been the benchmark to beat in the scale of operation, mastery of skills, & the level of service, not only in Bangalore, but the whole of India. As proof to their competence is the fact that Manipal Hospital was India’s first tertiary care hospital to get ISO certified for 4 critical systems – clinical protocols, nursing, diagnostics, & allied services.

MANIPAL HOSPITAL Excellence in Healthcare & the Vision Behind The achievements of the scale of Manipal Hospital, don’t come overnight or without massive strategic planning. The hospital is guided by a group of leaders with unparalleled exposure – Dr. T. Ramdas Pai, Dr. Ranjan Pai, Mr. R. Basil, & Dr. Nagendra Swamy.

Manipal Hospital also gains immensely from the young e n e r g y brought to the group by Dr. Ranjan Pai, son of Dr. Ramdas Pai, and currently the CEO of the entire Manipal Education & Medical Group. Dr. Ranjan Pai has significant international exposure behind him, and has held posts like the CEO of Melaka-Manipal Medical College in Malaysia.

The hospital comes under the strategic overview of Dr. T. Ramdas Pai, Manipal Group Chairman and President & Chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher R. Basil holds the strategic position of CEO of Education (MAHE), India’s both Manipal Hospital and the entire Manipal first deemed university in the Health Systems. A young go-getter, Basil is a private sector. Son of postgraduate engineer, and was formerly ViceManipal Founder Dr. TMA President at Wipro. Basil’s different background Pai, it has been more than has provided fresh insights into the strategic thirty years since Dr. Ramdas planning at Manipal Hospital.

Pai took over leadership of Manipal Group from his Manipal Hospital also has an illustrious leader, illustrious father. A medical Dr. Nagendra Swamy, who is the Director doctor from Kasturba Dr. Ranjan Pai, CEO, Manipal Education & Medical Medical Services & Postgraduate Studies. Dr. Medical College, Manipal, Group Swamy was earlier Regional Director (Asia) for and postgraduate in Hospital Administration, he was also trained at the Albert Einstein Amcare International, an affiliate of America’s John Medical Center in Philadelphia. It was under Dr. Ramdas Hopkins International, Executive Director of Welcare Pai that Manipal Group obtained international acclaim, and Hospital, Dubai, and CEO of Canadian Specialist Hospital, deemed university status. More than a Group Chairman, Dubai. He is a ‘veteran’ with Manipal Group, having studied Dr. Ramdas Pai is also a nationally acknowledged expert his MBBS & MD (Hospital Administration), from the in medical & higher education, proven by his participation prestigious Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Manipal. Dr. in government policy-making bodies like Medical Council Swamy’s long years of exposure to Manipal Group, as well of India, National Assessment & Accreditation Council, as his work experience spanning leading hospitals in India, and the six-member advisory committee to Ministry of HRD South East Asia, & Middle East, has added value to Manipal Hospital. on higher education.

MANIPAL HOSPITAL Innovation & Leadership Across Specialisations Manipal Hospital has pioneered many procedures in Karnataka, as well as the whole of India, while it’s specific Centres of Excellence & Departments maintain leadership positions across the country.

Structured as 43 speciality departments, and 8 Centres of Excellence, the 650-bedded hospital presents Karnataka with a scale of operation unseen in the state, and rare in the whole of India. The Centres of Excellence are Manipal Heart Foundation (MHF), Manipal Institute of Neurological Disorders (MIND), Manipal Institute of Nephrology & Urology (MINU), Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Manipal Hospital Diagnostic Services, Manipal International Institute of Dental Medicine, Manipal Pathology & Lab, and Manipal School of Nursing.

across its various Centres of Excellence and Departments. Manipal Institute of Neurological Disorders (MIND) was the first centre to perform Neuroendoscopy in Karnataka, while Manipal Institute of Nephrology & Urology (MINU) was the first to perform Cadaver Kidney Transplant & Lithotripsy in the state. And The Paediatric Department at Manipal was the first to use Surfactant Therapy for treatment of Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Manipal Hospital still continues to pioneer, the latest innovation coming from the Manipal Blood Bank – which is Karnataka’s largest – which introduced Nucleic Acid Testing for donated blood, for the first time in India, a procedure that ensures safety.

Manipal Hospital also has special leadership position all over India, across various disciplines R. Basil, CEO, Manipal Hospital, & It goes without saying that the 43 speciality like Cardiology & Cardiac Surgery, Organ CEO, Manipal Health Systems departments at Manipal Hospital include every Transplants, Bone Marrow Transplants, Joint speciality & super-speciality found at other Replacements, Paediatrics, Neonatology, & Reconstructive Plastic hospitals. What distinguishes Manipal Hospital is that it also includes Surgeries. rare departments like Paediatric Endocrinology, Plastic Surgery, Nuclear Medicine, & Rheumatology.

Manipal Hospital is also one of the rare hospitals in India, which has started a full-fledged Stem Cell Research Centre, a further proof for the Many of the 275 specialist doctors at Manipal Hospital are USA or UK cutting-edge it maintains in the healthcare research board-certified, and have brought pioneering acclaim to the hospital field.

MANIPAL HOSPITAL Inside a Centre of Excellence Manipal Heart Foundation (MHF) at Manipal Hospital best In cardiac surgeries, MHF does everything that the best of exemplifies the value added by structuring the institution hospitals in the West can do. Bypass Surgeries, Beating around several Centres of Excellence. The Foundation is Heart Surgeries, & Valve Replacements are routine at the one of the largest comprehensive heart Foundation, while it has a proven track care centres in India. With a track record record in rare, congenital, & redo of over 8500 cardiac surgeries and over surgeries – the kind not attempted at 17,000 cardiac procedures, within the many cardiac surgery departments. last 7 years itself, Manipal Heart Some of the challenging cases Foundation outperforms even some of undertaken at MHF include Triple the dedicated heart hospitals, in Valve Replacements, Left Ventricular capacity. And it is still moving ahead at Aneurysm Reconstruction, Bentall an amazing pace – up to 15 heart Procedure, Ross Procedure, & Surgery surgeries and 30 cardiac procedures, for Aortic Dissection. MHF has also everyday! But it is not size alone that successfully undertaken complex open differentiates MHF. For one, the heart surgeries under Total Circulatory Foundation has an amazing success rate Arrest.

In Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, Dr. Nagendra Swamy, Director - Medical Services & of 98%, in tune with the best hospitals MHF takes up challenging assignments Postgraduate Studies, Manipal Hospital in the West. Of equal importance is also like Arterial Switch, Double Switch, the fact that, MHF offers the entire range of treatments for Repair of Uni-ventricular Hearts, & Rastelli Surgeries – cardiac diseases, both for adults & children. It is one among again, something only a handful of hospitals in the world the handful of institutions in the whole world, which can can do. The team led by Dr. N.S. Devananda is specialised stake such a claim – spanning cardiac surgeries, invasive in Open Heart Surgeries for neonates with congenital cardiac procedures, cardiac electrophysiology services, & conditions like TGA; the complex surgeries often non-invasive cardiac tests. undertaken within hours of birth!

The superb team at MHF led by Cardiologist Dr. Subash Chandra, Cardiac Surgeon Dr. Ganesh Krishnan Iyer, and Cardiac Anaesthesia Head Dr. M. Nagaraja Gowda, ensures that MHF has one of the best cardiac expertise in the world. The deployment of multiple state-of-the-art Operation Theatres, advanced equipment like the GE Innova Catheterisation Lab, a modern Intensive Coronary Care Unit (ICCU), & perhaps the country’s most advanced Electro-Physiology Lab, has enabled MHF surgeons & specialists to take any cardiac challenge head on.

The non-invasive cardiac procedures undertaken at MHF are also comprehensive, with all standard procedures like Angioplasty, Valvuloplasty, Device Closure of ASD/VSD etc undertaken. A notable achievement of the department is the large number of patients it has successfully treated in rheumatic valvular disease and various congenital diseases. The Centre excels in peripheral vascular interventions like peripheral angioplasty with stenting, and percutaneous treatments with covered stents & stent grafts.

Cardiac Electrophysiology services include diagnostics, treatment of arrhythmias using radio frequency ablation, & permanent pacemaker implantation. And it goes without saying that the entire range of non-invasive cardiac tests like electrocardiography, echocardiography, stress testing, Holter studies etc., are available at the Foundation.

But the real excellence of Manipal Heart Foundation is that all these non-surgical and surgical procedures in cardiology are provided to patients at very affordable costs, without compromising on quality even a bit.

MANIPAL HOSPITAL A Vision That Includes Every Patient, A Level of Service That Satisfies Even Medical Tourists Manipal Hospital is doing the unimaginably complex act of balancing two ideals – maintaining the hospital at a standard fit enough for medical tourism, and at the same time ensuring that their medical expertise can reach even the economically challenged sections of the Indian population.

International patients to Manipal Hospital come from all over the world, including USA, UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa, & India’s neighbouring countries, making it one of the most happening places for Medical Tourism in the country. More than 200 corporate companies have tied-up with the hospital to offer health insurance to their employees through TPAs. And nearly, 50% of the Manipal Hospital patients are covered by medical insurance. Attracting patients from such upperclass backgrounds comes naturally to Manipal Hospital, with its size, expertise, & comfort levels.

However, it also attracts a lot of middleclass patients with it’s around 225 beds in General Rooms, and the affordable rates for specialist procedures & surgeries. But going even one step forward is Manipal Hospital in bringing its medical expertise to all sections of the society. Through its affiliate program, Manipal Hospital, provides it professional, technical, & clinical expertise to around 10 secondary hospitals in Bangalore like Gayathri Hospital, Mediscope Hospital, Acura Hospital, Healthcare & Wellness Foundation Limited, Acura Speciality, Seventh Day Adventist Medical Centre, Mediscope, Desai Hospital, Chinmaya Mission Hospital (Neurology Department), & CSI Hospital. To reach out to hospitals outside Bangalore, Manipal Hospital has

commissioned a state-of-the-art tele-medicine network with the server in the hospital and hubs spread across Goa, Gurgaon, Mangalore, Manipal, as well as Bangalore suburbs like Tumkur & Hosur. And for patients who can’t afford major treatments due to economic challenges, the hospital’s Social Work Department tries to arrange treatment by co-ordinating with corporates, individuals, & charitable organizations. Such fine balancing acts between clinical excellence that satisfies even medical tourists and social commitment towards India’s lesser privileged, has become the hallmark of Manipal Hospital.

New patient-friendly measures get introduced at Manipal Hospital at an almost daily basis. To facilitate working people, outpatient consultation has been extended to 8 PM on weekdays, while it is available from 9 to 5 on Sundays & holidays. Speciality Clinics for shoulder, rheumatoid arthritis, laser hair removal, podiatric (diabetes foot problem), & sports medicine have been introduced.

Manipal Hospital is also reaching out in full swing. By expanding the tele-medicine network, getting more primary & secondary care centres affiliated, and building a chain of modern pharmacies branded, ‘The Manipal Medicine’.

The giant is also planning to move up from a tertiary care hospital to a quaternary care speciality centre. But the Manipal touch of sensitive care is only getting better. Free consultation for children with heart diseases, has been introduced. .

57 SEASONAL 2006

“Lakeshore ” willMaintainLeadershipinBothDomestic Healthcare&MedicalTourism

There is nothing small in MA Yousaf Ali’s vision. That is why this Dubai-based Non-Resident Keralite has backed projects like Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) and Cochin’s Lakeshore Hospital. Similarly, there is nothing short-sighted in Dr. Philip Augustine’s dream. In the late 90s he dreamt of a world-class tertiary hospital for Kerala. By 2003 it was a reality. Complete with a fine team of medical talent, world-class technological infrastructure, and a pristine ambience. In 2007, Dr. Philip is again dreaming – to take Lakeshore Hospital to the dizzying heights of international medical tourism.

P

ath-breaking projects are all about paradigm shifts. Kerala is not especially fond of paradigm shifts, but is still home to a couple of such projects. The country’s first airport in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), is one such project. NRI investors like MA Yousaf Ali have been instrumental in CIAL becoming a reality.

Cochin’s Lakeshore Hospital & Research Centre has been another project that germinated from a paradigm shift. Is it a mere coincidence that MA Yousaf Ali is the key investor behind Lakeshore too?

Anyway, until then, even the best of private healthcare in the state were about overcrowded corridors, smelly rooms, and endless queues. No wonder, when Lakeshore started in January 2003, it quickly won bouquets, and some brickbats too. Lakeshore was appreciated for its pristine cleanliness and quality medical care, but was criticised for its ‘star hospital’ status.

But 4 years later, things have changed. At least two new hospitals have come up in the state, roughly modelled around Lakeshore. Existing hospitals have upgraded themselves in a do-or-die attitude. Even some private medical colleges are vying for a Lakeshore like ambience.

The writing on the wall is clear: Lakeshore is how hospitals should be. The paradigm has changed, forever.

MA Yousaf Ali, Chairman

But Dr. Philip Augustine, the Founder Promoter, Managing Director, & CEO of Lakeshore Hospital is not somebody who rests on his laurels. While other hospitals are doing the catching-up act, Dr. Philip is taking Lakeshore to truly dizzying heights. This tertiary care super-speciality hospital is today home to the whois-who of Kerala’s medical talent. Almost every superspeciality department here has it’s claim to fame.

And like all world-class hospitals, Lakeshore today has a keen focus on research & higher education.

Hepatology specialist and noted researcher Dr. Abraham Koshy heads their research initiatives. On the higher education front, the hospital currently runs four DNB courses, and will soon start seven more courses.

Surprisingly, this ‘star hospital’ has also put in a class act on the affordability front. There are 5 slabs of rates to choose from, starting from Rs. 70 for a bed.

Lakeshore has also started a massive initiative for charitable healthcare with significant contributions from pharmaceutical giants like Dr. Reddy’s Labs & Torrent.

The market is also abuzz about an impending investment into Lakeshore from overseas, which will take their medical tourism initiatives to a new level.

Dr. Philip Augustine, MD & CEO

azine in Seasonal Mag tine Dr. Philip Augus

with conversation

Lakes

There is a buzz around that Lakeshore is in for a major expansion. Is this true?

There are three things – one is that we badly need an expansion. Most of the days we have no beds to spare.

Secondly, we can afford this expansion now as we have turned in a profit since the last two years. Third is that we were actively considering various expansion strategies, that is, how to fund it. Whether it should be an IPO, a loan, or a JV. And what exactly is your expansion plan?

Currently, we have 300 beds. Our projection is that we need 250 beds more to meet the emerging demand. Then there are the associated facilities and upgradations required. Altogether an expansion to the tune of Rs. 100 crores is called for.

From a struggling ‘star hospital’ in 2003 to a bustling hospital in 2007, how do you explain Lakeshore’s acceptance among Keralites?

Yes, today we can’t offer rooms or beds to all in need.

It is true that we had a ‘star hospital’ image. But that was because of a lack of awareness regarding how hospitals should be. Today, Lakeshore is the benchmark. The competition’s efforts are to do something better than Lakeshore. But we will make sure that it won’t be easy. We are moving that fast with the cutting-edge in medicine.

Diabetes Centre at Lakeshore Dr. Johny J Kannampilly MD, D. Ortho, D. Diab, is a uniquely experienced diabetes specialist.

He obtained his training in diabetes from the WHO Centre in Zagreb, Croatia, Europe.

Currently, he heads the Diabetes Centre at Lakeshore. It was Dr. Johny who installed the first insulin pump in South India, and still Lakeshore leads in the maximum number of installed insulin pumps. The department has meticulously designed packages for comprehensive care of diabetes patients. Dr. Johny has also been trained at the renowned Kings College of London under Prof. Mike Edmonds, an international authority in diabetic foot care.

Such exposures make him the first doctor from Kerala to be trained in diabetic foot. Under his leadership, Lakeshore has also started a Diabetes LEAP Centre, the L.E.A.P standing for Lower Extremity Amputation Prevention. The department also runs a Juvenile Diabetic Foundation for the special needs of children with diabetes.

But how come this widespread acceptance now?

You see, we always had beds for Rs. 70, even when we were branded as a ‘star hospital’. Then, there is the matter of vision, that is, pioneering vision. Our vision was straightforward – we wanted to pioneer tertiary level care in Kerala. And that is what we did. We foresaw that it was in tertiary care that Kerala was far behind; primary and secondary care were quite good here, even in 2000.

And how did you implement this vision?

We understood the importance of attracting the finest doctors in each speciality. We did that. We understood the importance of equipping our doctors with finest technology, so that they can deliver the best service to our patients. We did that. And thirdly, we understood the importance of providing our patients and their families with clean facilities and a healing ambience. And all these three aspects are ongoing processes in Lakeshore.

So, how is the expansion going to be?

Well, as things stand now, it is going to be a joint-venture.

The partner is from overseas and will bring in considerable investment as well as expertise to Lakeshore.

shore To what do you attribute this selection?

They put it very simply – “We have heard about Lakeshore’s medical tourism initiatives before.”

When another South Indian hospital - which is nearly twice our size and metro based - approached them for partnership, the answer was similar – “We haven’t heard about your medical tourism initiatives till now.”

So, you mean to say the selection was solely based on your past performance in medical tourism…

In a way, yes. But, of course, both parties are putting in the due diligence. Their team from Bangkok has visited Lakeshore, and later our team including myself toured Thailand to see their facilities. The trip and the discussions were very fruitful. Our Chairman MA Yousaf Ali’s profile also impressed them very much. They know him as the head of EMKE Group, since they have a hospital in UAE too.

Have you reached a stage where you can name the partner, and what kind of expertise are they bringing in?

How do you assess the medical tourism facilities in Thailand, and your partner’s facilities in particular?

At the moment I can say that our prospective partner is a hospital from Thailand, the Mecca of medical tourism.

They are one of the largest medical tourism providers on an international scale.

It is mind-boggling. The Thai Government is doing everything in their capacity to promote medical tourism. Our partner hospital is exceptionally good, complete with even a visa office! No efforts have been spared to bring in medical tourists, including going for the coveted JCI certification. Thanks to this trip, we finally understood why medical tourists in Thailand are numbered in millions, and not thousands.

So, the expertise that you mentioned is about medical tourism, right?

The expertise is about providing world-class healthcare, and yes, medical tourism in particular.

They are at the cutting-edge, running JCI accredited hospitals and all.

How did this JV come about? If they are a leader in medical tourism as you mentioned, the process would have been challenging…

Yes, quite challenging. They were literally shopping in India for suitable partnerships. Finally they zeroed in on two hospitals – one in North and one in South. I am happy to note that Lakeshore was the only hospital from South that they actively considered.

How do you compare it with the support you receive from our Governments?

Well, there is nothing much to compare. Our Governments are only waking up to the prospect of medical tourism now. There, in Thailand, they have a 10 or 15 year head-start. The only agency that is doing something in India to promote medical tourism is Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). We, at Lakeshore share their enthusiasm. I am the Chairman of the Kerala Chapter of CII’s Healthcare

Lakeshore Dental Sciences & Faciomaxillary Surgery at Lakeshore Dr. JI Chacko, MDS, has 30 years of experience in dental & maxillofacial procedures behind him. He is a pioneer in orthognathic surgery, dental implantology, & procedures using resorbable mini-plates & screw.

Currently, Dr. Chacko heads the Department of Dental Sciences & Faciomaxillary Surgery at Lakeshore. Under his expert guidance, the department undertakes treatment for maxillofacial trauma, corrective procedures for jaw deformities, oral cancers, tumours of the jaws, TM joint arthroscopic procedures, dental implants, surgical removal of impacted tooth, single sitting root canal treatment, correction of gummy scale, dentofacial orthopaedics, orthodontics, & maxillofacial prosthetics. The department is a centre of excellence and a key player in Lakeshore’s medical tourism initiatives.

Subcommittee. A group of Kerala hospitals including Lakeshore has been conducting Kerala Health Tourism (KHT) an annual medical tourism seminar, with CII’s help.

How effective have been the CII initiatives?

Well, CII has succeeded in bringing together 40 Indian hospitals in the private sector to jointly promote medical tourism. I think that is a big

achievement. Secondly, CII has been successful in lobbying with the Central Government to come up with a national level accreditation program for hospitals interested in medical tourism. The certification from the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) is a cost-effective alternative to international programs like JCI. Lakeshore will soon be accredited under this.

How do you assess the support from the State Government?

Hip & Joint Replacement at Lakeshore

Well, the present Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and the current Health Minister PK Sreemathi both have sympathetic ears towards our cause. But the same can’t be said about the top officials, especially in the tourism department. They keep on discussing about meaningless things like the semantics of the phrase ‘medical tourism’ and so on. But things weren’t like this. We had excellent bureaucrats like Mr. Amitabh Kant and Mr. Suman who were proactive leaders.

Dr. Jacob Varghese heads Lakeshore’s hip & joint replacement initiatives.

The department is at the cutting edge of joint replacement, using technologies like computer navigation, third generation cementation, & pulse lavage. Services provided include total knee & hip replacement surgeries, joint resurfacing, revision joint replacement, shoulder joint replacement, & arthroscopic surgery of shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, & ankle. Lakeshore’s joint replacement expertise has been recognised internationally, and even patients from USA come here for treatment. The joint replacement unit works in tandem with Lakeshore’s Department of Orthopaedics, Traumatology, & Spine Surgery. The department is headed by noted orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Lazar P Chandy, MS, D.Ortho, and includes eminent spine surgeon Dr. Suresh S, D. Ortho, MS, DNB. Lakeshore also runs a dedicated Spine Clinic which has undertaken many complex procedures like correcting deformities.

ABRIEFLOOKATLAKESHORETALENTS CARDIOLOGY Dr. KAChacko - MD, DM CARDIOTHORACIC& VASCULARSURGERY Dr.MadhavNaikFRCS,MS,FAMS,FECS INTERVENTIONALCARDIOLOGY Dr.Anand Kumar V MD,DM Dr. Ciby Issac MD,DM, DNB GASTROENTEROLOGY Dr. Philip Augustine - MD, DM Managing Director Dr.Abraham Koshi MD, DM Director of Hepatology & Research

NEPHROLOGY Dr. Georgy K. Ninan MD, DM, DNB Dr.AbiAbraham M MD,DM,DNB NEUROLOGY Dr. Gigy Kuruttukulam MD, DM NEUROSURGERY Dr. P. Sai Sudarsan MS,MCh,DNB,MNAMS RADIOLOGY&IMAGING Dr. George Joseph - MD, DMRD UROLOGY Dr. George PAbraham - MS, MCh

GASTROINTESTINALSURGERY Dr. H. Ramesh - MS, MCh, FACS

ORTHOPAEDIC Dr. Jacob Varghese D.Ortho, MS.Ortho Dr. Lazar J. Chandy MS,D.Ortho

MEDICAL&PAEDIATRICONCOLOGY Dr. V. P Ganghadharan MD, MD, DM

ENDOCRINOLOGY Prof. N. Kochupillai MD,FAMS,FNA

PLASTICSURGERY Dr. Jose Tharayil - MS, FRCS

DIABETOLOGY Dr. Johny J. Kannampilly MD, D.Ortho, D.Diab.

SURGICALONCOLOGY Dr. Thomas Varughese - MS, FICS, FACS

VYDEHIINSTITUTEOFMEDICALSCIENCES&RESEARCHC

Cutting Edge Quality, High-minded Philanthropy There are only a few hospitals in Bangalore where charity goes hand in hand with corporate settings. Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre - a DK Audikesavulu initiative at Whitefield is prominent among them. Lying close to the International Tech Park Bangalore (ITPB) and the well known Sri Sathya Sai Hospital, Vydehi can’t be anything else, but a mixture of high-minded philanthropy and cuttingedge quality. Adding further momentum to the institution’s pursuit for exceptional excellence, the first MBBS batch of Vydehi has stood out first in Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences with a 91% success in the final MBBS exams. The latest news from Vydehi is the commissioning of a Rs. 14 crore worth IGRT (Image Guided Radiation Therapy) system from Varian (Germany) for cancer treatment. The only hospital in South Asia to have such advanced facilities, Vydehi is offering the facilities at an unbelievably low price. “That’s what we always work for - the most modern care for the least privileged at minimal or no cost,” says Director DA Kalpaja, about this noble vision.

CENTRE CHAIRMAN

Lively during interactions, DA Kalpaja, Director of Vydehi, is full of enthusiasm, energy and abiding conviction when it comes to her institute. She explains the mission and vision that fires Vydehi, with her trade mark vivacity.

D.A. Kalpaja

D.K. Audikesavulu

W

e are the only hospital in South Asia to have such systems,” sitting at her spacious and elegant chamber, DA Kalpaja, Director, Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre says about the latest path-breaking initiative in the frontier areas of advanced medical care. She is referring to the recently acquired equipments for Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT).

“One of our goals is to be a specialized cancer center with means and motives to bring the advanced cancer treatment facilities within the reach of common man. With treatment tariffs kept at bare minimum levels to achieve this goal, I think we are on the right path,” Kalpaja notes.

Vydehi sees itself, in times to come, as a major player amongst the cancer centers of the country. “The main focus is to help and treat poorest of the poor with the latest technology,” says Audikesavalu, Chairman of Vydehi.

The developments in cancer treatment are in line with the creation of a 300-bedded Oncology Institute, as part of the Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences & Research

Your hospital follows a different model. The fact is well known that it caters to the less fortunate sections of the society. At the, same time you have corporate clients also. How viable and sustainable is the model?

True, we have set apart a good number of beds - nearly 300 - for free treatment. Almost 35% of our facilities are for poor patients. We see healthcare as a matter of service. With the help of our Chairman, we have been able to do it successfully so far. We strongly believe that there shouldn’t be any discrimination between the poor and rich in terms of the treatment they receive. At Vydehi, we do everything possible to ensure it. Coming back to your question, the model is tough to follow. But our principles and vision motivate us to carry on. It is not the ‘rich few’ we want to serve. It is the ‘poor many’, we love to cater. And the very volume of it lends a case for the economy of our operation.

Is it easy to identify the the poor?

Won’tInstitute there be of cases whereSciences the undeserving will Vydehi Medical & Research corner the benefits?

Centre. The dedicated center is housing all the It may happen. But we have social workers.

TheyofdoOncology analyse each case Radiation, and see the important specialties namely, merit. I agree that complaints do emerge.

But we have good mechanisms to minimise Surgical, Medical and Palliative oncology. it, if not eliminate.

Intreatment terms of to patient care,does the the advanced features in the Since you are offering free the needy, treatment cost more for radiation machine provide highly conformal treatment those who pay for the services? Any kind of cross-subsidy is involved? with patient safety, of Kalpaja says. Better Absolutely no. Let me clear thisimproved misconception.

No question cross-subsidy arises. tumor delivery of radiation rays and superior realgiving time Our charges are least compared to other hospitals. Mind you, this is even after monitoring of the treatment plan can also be ensured.

30% beds for free.

All paid theseservices? result in improved cure rates and better So how competitive are your “Thesurgery Centerfor is Rs well supported by treatment Can you show a hospital where one cantolerance. have a bypass 60,000 including the full-fledged multi-specialty Medical college all expenses including food? You can have a dialysis for Rs 600 here. It goes up to Rs Administrator Majorservice General 900 if kits are provided by hospital,” the hospital. observes Vydehi is such an institution where and AnjuisManchanda is recipient of Visisht affordable healthcare with(Ret’d) high quality the motto andwho reality.

You can have a word with the patients if you want.

Seva Medal, one of the top honours in the Indian Army.

Today, Vydehi Group of Institutions at EPIP Area in What are the new areas, the hospital is venturing into?

Whitefield consists of four academic It isStem not We will be concentrating on plastic surgery and stemindividual cell research, in future. cells, as we know is the future wave.

And what about the developments in oncology department?

Well, we have bought the machinery for IGRT (image guided radiation therapy) worth Rs 14 crores from Varian of Germany. We are the only hospital in South Asia to have it.

We are interested in extending this facility to the poorest of the society. The information about this is spreading through word of mouth. We have patients from far away places like West Bengal. It costs only Rs. 50,000 for those who need to pay for the services, for others it is free as usual. Actually the cost can go much higher than that, given the investment. But we want to price it least and bring benefits to maximum people.

It is known that you have Ayurveda and Allopathy under the same roof…

Yes, in our rehabilitation centre, Ayurveda and Allopathy are combined for better results.

We are unique in that respect. I suppose we are the only institution in the world in this category.

Your first batch in MBBS has come out. How’s the performance?

Our first batch of 100 students stands first in Bangalore this year. Our students recorded 91% success in final examination. The BDS batch has a success percentage of 85%.

Biotechnology students also have produced great results. I will attribute that success to discipline. Discipline is the key in life. Good intentions alone won’t fetch the results.

VYDEHIINSTITUTEOFMEDICALSCIENCES&R Centre. The dedicated center is housing all the important specialties of Oncology namely, Radiation, Surgical, Medical and Palliative Oncology.

In terms of patient care, the advanced features of the radiation machine provide highly conformal treatment with improved patient safety, Kalpaja says. Better tumor delivery of radiation rays and superior real time monitoring of the treatment plan can also be ensured. All these result in improved cure rates and better treatment tolerance. “The Centre is well supported by the full-fledged multi-specialty Medical College Hospital,” says Vydehi Administrator Major General (Ret’d) Dr. Anju Manchanda who is recipient of Visisht Seva Medal (VSM), one of the top honours in the Indian Army.

Today, Vydehi Group of Institutions at EPIP Area in Whitefield consists of four individual academic institutions - Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Vydehi Institute of Dental Sciences, Vydehi Institute of Nursing Sciences, and Vydehi Institute of Biotech Sciences, as well as two specialised treatment centres – Vydehi Institute of Rehabilitation, and Vydehi AyurvedaGram. All these six institutions share the 65-acres Vydehi Campus. What is noteworthy is that only 10% of the campus is covered with concrete structures, and the rest 90% is landscaped with gardens, lush greenery, and vast play areas. Facilities exist for such sports like Cricket, Basketball, Volleyball etc, and the indoor recreational infrastructure includes swimming pool, multigym, badminton courts etc.

While most young medical colleges go for the bare minimum departments, and equipment, the 1000bedded Vydehi Hospital has speciality departments like C a r d i o l o g y ,

Anju Manchanda

Oncology, Nephrology, Urology, Pulmonology, General Medicine, General Surgery, Ophthalmology, ENT, Dermatology, Orthopaedics, Psychiatry, Paediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Dental Science, and several Speciality Clinics. No doubt the Vydehi MBBS students gain from these wide specialities, as well as from the hightech equipments & facilities like Cardiac Cathlab, MRI, Spiral CT, Cardiac Echo Machine, Ultrasound, Linear Accelerator etc. “ Yes our students are benefited from the facilities. It is borne out by the final year MBBS results this year,” remarks Kalpaja on Vydehi students coming top in recently announced MBBS examination results.

Discipline, high values, and concern for poor are inculcated in the value system of students during their stay at Vydehi, she informs.

It is not that Vydehi is a hospital for the poor and downtrodden only. Vydehi offers medical solutions to clients with varying socio-economic profiles. The hospital is at an enviable neighborhood in Whitefield; neighbors include International Tech Park Bangalore (ITPB), healthcare organizations like Sri Satya Sai Super Speciality Hospital, and high-profile technology companies like IBM, Dell, SAP, GE, GE Medical Systems, Intel etc. – some of them Vydehi’s corporate clients too. Vydehi has everything that corporate clients are looking for. For example, special suites at Vydehi

RESEARCHCENTRE include facilities like Cable TV, Room Service, Hot Water, & Multi-cuisine Diet.

Apart from the medical college, the other teaching institutions in the Vydehi Campus are Vydehi Institute of Dental Sciences, Vydehi Institute of Nursing Sciences, & Vydehi Institute of Biotech Sciences. Vydehi Institute of Dental Sciences is approved by the Dental Council of India, and is affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences for the BDS course. The dental college is noted for its curricular stress on compulsory rotational internship at the hospital as well as the outreach programs to neighbouring rural communities – thus providing Vydehi BDS students with an unmatched scope for experiencing diverse dental cases.

Vydehi Institute of Nursing Sciences offers both BSc Nursing and General Nursing & Midwifery Course. The former is affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, and the latter to the Karnataka Nursing Board.

Learning Biotechnology at Vydehi Institute of Biotechnology might be an experience of a lifetime – for Vydehi has gone all out to build an exotic Medicinal Plants Park and a world-class Tissue Culture Laboratory. The Medical College is also the venue where various paramedical courses are conducted.

These include BSc programs in 4 subjects – Operation Theatre Technology, Radiology, Renal Dialysis Technology, & Anaesthesia Technology.

The two specialised treatment centres at the Vydehi Campus – the Vydehi Institute of Rehabilitation and Vydehi AyurvedaGram speak about the passion with which the management regards these offbeat yet holistic

areas of help to the patient population. One of the most sought after centres of its kind in the country, Vydehi Institute of Rehabilitation offers an array of treatments ranging from those addressing the most difficult of the disabilities to early intervention programs. The marvellous infrastructure for rehabilitating children and adults, use therapies like Occupational Therapy, Speech and Auditory Training, Vision Therapy, Sensory Integrative Therapy, Music Therapy, Aquatic Therapy, Early Therapy, and Biofeedback. Vydehi is associated with California State University at Los Angeles (CSULA) to bring the latest of Rehabilitation Therapies to the Institute. Vydehi stays at the world’s cutting-edge in clinical competence and research; partnerships with California State University at Los Angeles (CSULA) for Rehabilitation, and University of Georgia for Biotechnology, are just two examples.

Vydehi’s AyurvedaGram uses the ancient principles of Ayurveda to discover the underlying nature (Prakriti), to create tailor-made treatments designed to bring relief from various diseases & conditions. The Centre offers Panchakarma, Rejuvenation, Slimming, Stress Management etc. Vydehi is the only such medical campus in the country to offer both modern medicine and Ayurveda.

Vasan Eye Care Hospital Introduces Zyoptix XP in Cochin

Dr. AM Arun

Delivers sharper vision than Lasik, without glasses or contacts.

Vasan Eye Care Hospital, Cochin, part of India’s largest and fastest growing eye hospital chain, has introduced the latest Zyoptix XP technology in the city. Zyoptix XP is a modern and better technology than Lasik, and is the latest in rectifying refractive errors like short sight, long sight, astigmatism etc, says PA Unni, Director, Vasan Eye Care Hospital.

Refractive Surgeon Dr. Kala B Thottam explains it further, “Zyoptix XP delivers sharper unaided vision than Lasik, as the technology provides more corneal tissue for laser ablation to help correct higher dioptre of

power.” How does it translate as better value for the patient? “Apart from the sharper vision, other benefits include lesser time for the procedure and faster return to normal life. The procedure can be finished as quick as 10 minutes, and the patient can resume normal activity within 6 hours,” says Dr. Kala. Of course, patients get adequate vision without the use of glasses or contacts. The procedure costs Rs. 25,000 for both eyes.

Vasan Eye Care Hospitals was founded by Dr. AM Arun in 2002. The first Vasan Eye Care Hospital started

at Trichy. Within just 4 years, the chain had established hospitals in South Indian cities like Salem, Kozhikode, Hubli, & Cochin. All these hospitals became runaway successes, prompting Dr. Arun and his professional team to continually expand the chain to other cities in South India. Today, Vasan Eye Care is also available at Erode in Tamilnadu, Belgaum in Karnataka, and Kannur in Kerala, and is soon expanding to another ten cities. The Cochin hospital of Vasan Group is a 4-storeyed, 20,000 sq ft, state-of-theart hospital that is fit enough for even medical tourism. Still, the hospital aims to be one of the most affordable eye care hospitals. Says Chairman Dr. AM Arun, “Our technological infrastructure and our super-specialist doctors are all world-class, but our rates are very affordable. We also offer everything in eye care – cataract service, refractive surgery (Zyoptix), cornea service, occuloplasty, paediatric ophthalmology, glaucoma, vitreo retinal surgery, anterior segment surgery – all under one roof.

Our vision is to be the world’s largest chain of eye care hospitals, in every sense.”

PREFERRED SUPER-SPECIALITY HOSPITALS

VIKRAM HOSPITAL & HEART CARE “With Our Multi-Super-Speciality Hospital, We Have Put Mysore, On India’s Health Map”

Managing Director Dr. SB Vikram, MD

Mysore’s first multi-super-speciality hospital had two options before it – one, keep on leveraging the fact that it is the first in Mysore; two, move ahead from that label and start competing with the best hospitals in neighbouring Bangalore, or for that matter, anywhere in India. Managing Director Dr. SB Vikram, MD, decided on the second course. The results speak for themselves. Vikram Hospital & Heart Care has many professional firsts in super-specialist departments like cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, gastroenterology, & urology, not only in Karnataka or South India, but even in the whole of India!

Co-promoted by NRI medical professionals from USA & France, this centrally air-conditioned and environmentally sealed healthcare facility, is fit enough for medical tourism, but maintains a remarkable level of affordability for all. The hospital also attracted a remarkable team of world renowned specialists & surgeons including Cardiologist Dr. Arun Srinivas and Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. Nagendra Prakash.

The technological infrastructure is truly state-of-the-art – Vikram features the million-dollar Somatom Sensation Cardiac System from Siemens (first installation in South India) which has revolutionized diagnostics in cardiology & other departments, and the Harmonic Scalpel (first in Karnataka), which has revolutionized surgeries.

SOMATOM SENSATION CARDIAC SYSTEM IS UNIQUE IN THAT IT CAN OBTAIN THE RESULTS POSSIBLE FROM CORONARY ANGIOGRAM, BUT IN A QUICK, NON-INVASIVE FASHION - IN LESS THAN 20 SECONDS, WITHOUT HOSPITALIZATION, PAINFUL CATHETERS, OR INCISION IN THE GROIN! Once upon a time Mysore was more important than Bangalore.

Then came Indian independence, Karnataka’s statehood, Nehru’s strategic vision for Bangalore, and lastly, the IT revolution that transformed Bangalore into India’s Silicon Valley.

In this transformation, while Bangalore took the centre-stage, Mysore became the satellite.

Bangalore’s de facto supremacy is also quite visible in the healthcare field. At least half a dozen of India’s mightiest multisuper-speciality hospitals in the private sector are Bangalore based, not to speak about the numerous single-super-speciality and multi-speciality hospitals that have started in the city during the last few decades.

So, what does a young medical entrepreneur in Karnataka, who starts out a few years back, plan? Find a nice place in Bangalore, set up a super-speciality hospital, and ride the wave – the wave called Bangalore, where 3.5 lakh highly paid IT professionals and their families ensure that super-speciality hospitals are always at peak occupancy.

But not Dr. SB Vikram, MD. He sets up Vikram Hospital & Heart Care in Mysore – the first and only such facility here.

Because, his priorities are different. He didn’t postgraduate in medicine to be in the cosiest doctor’s chair available, maybe available halfway across the globe. He didn’t decide to be a medical entrepreneur to amass a fortune by wooing corporate clients and tapping their fat insurance packages.

He went to study medicine, inspired by the life of his grandfather, Dr. S Narayana Setty. A qualified Chest Physician who was practising in UK, Dr. Narayana Setty forsake that lucrative career and returned to Mysore to take charge of a Chest & Tuberculosis Hospital, and thus serve the community. This was almost half a century back.

Dr. Narayana Setty’s unconditional love for his patients and his professional excellence, made him known all over Mysore and beyond. A doctor with a missionary zeal, he also inspired his sons to take up medicine. And he worked with them – Dr. S Bhaskar & Dr. SN Rajeshwar – for more than four decades, to set up a good outpatient service with all diagnostic facilities, in Mysore.

But it was his grandson, the young Dr. Vikram ,who took the initiative to create Dr. Narayana Setty’s ultimate dream – a truly world-class hospital in Mysore that will specialize in cardiothoracic surgery.

PREFERRED SUPER-SPECIALITY HOSPITALS

VIKRAM HOSPITAL & HEART CARE Dr. Vikram is one person who believes that Mysore can even gradually upstage Bangalore in many fields including healthcare. Says Dr. Vikram, “Mysore is blessed with salubrious climate with temperatures ranging from 17–25 degrees for over 10 months in a year. Having a lot of greenery and non-polluting industries, clean, fresh air is everywhere. This makes the city an ideal destination for health tourism. Connectivity by 4-lane expressways and fast trains like Shatabdi Express from Chennai, now make it possible for patients to come to Mysore from many cities - even for day care surgeries.”

Let not the location, Mysore, fool you into any hasty conclusions. True, a super-speciality hospital in Mysore is more likely to be a mini super-speciality hospital, which will refer to more full-fledged super-speciality hospitals in Bangalore, as the need arises.

But not Vikram Hospital & Heart Care. Dr. Vikram has equipped this hospital to be as good, if not better than the finest superspeciality hospitals in Bangalore!

Surprised? Need not be.

Vikram Hospital’s Cardiology Department has to its credit, Karnataka’s first implantation of a drug-coated stent!

Vikram’s Urology Department was the first in Karnataka to do bilateral simultaneous PCNL and Twin Track PCNL for large staghorn kidney stones!

DR. ARUN SRINIVAS, MD, DM, WHO HEADS THE CARDIOLOGY DEPARTMENT AS CONSULTANT CARDIOLOGIST, IS A DISTINGUISHED SPECIALIST WITH ENVIABLE ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS TO HIS CREDIT, BOTH FROM INDIA AND ABROAD.

The Gastroenterology Department has also another impressive first to its credit – it is India’s only hospital where cancers causing jaundice (cholangiocarcinoma) are treated with endoscopic delivery of radiation inside the cancer!

Perhaps, the best example for the finest in international technology that Vikram has gone for is the million-dollar Somatom Sensation Cardiac system from Siemens. Somatom Sensation is unique in that it can obtain the results possible from coronary angiogram, but in a quick, non-invasive fashion! That is, a screening coronary angiogram in less than 20 seconds, without hospitalization, painful catheters, or incision in the groin! This next-generation CT Scanner is the costliest in the world and is revolutionizing cardiac treatment in the finest hospitals around the world. Even more surprisingly, Vikram Hospital is the first hospital in South India to install Somatom Sensation!

Impressed? Indeed, Dr. SB Vikram is running no one-man-show here. Assisting him in setting up and maintaining this world-class hospital are co-promoters and NRI Directors like France-based KC Mohan Rao, MS; and US-based professionals, Sudhir Setty, MS; Kowdle Prasad, MS; & Ganesh Prasad, MS.

Somatom Sensation also enables doctors at Vikram Hospital to perform a whole body scan in which they can view all the blood vessels – in heart, kidney, brain etc – and obtain 3D images of any internal part in the body. Surely, it enables faster and more accurate diagnosis.

Vikram Hospital & Heart Care is today a multi-super-speciality hospital with 100 beds. A world-class, state-of-the-art healthcare facility, Vikram Hospital is centrally air-conditioned and environmentally sealed. The multiple operation theatres have stainless steel walls and fibreglass flooring. Built to satisfy even the most discerning of medical tourists, Vikram Hospital, however, takes special care to keep its charges affordable for all.

Vikram Hospital also features another first in equipments – Harmonic Scalpel, a wonderful instrument which is ultrasonically activated, and helps surgeons for a bloodless field of surgery, minimal scarring, and quicker recovery. Vikram Hospital is the first hospital in Karnataka to have Harmonic Scalpel.

Vikram’s Gastroenterology Department was the first in Karnataka & Tamilnadu to perform extraluminal endoscopy (endoscopic ultrasound)!

For creating a world-class hospital in the 21st century, both men and machines are important. Vikram Hospital isn’t compromising on either.

Under the leadership of CMD Dr. S Bhaskar, and MD Dr. SB Vikram, the hospital has successfully created a team of worldrenowned specialists,

Dr. K Krishna Rao, MS, FRACS, an internationally experienced surgeon, heads Vikram’s Urology Department as Chief Urologist, while noted Gastroenterologist Dr. Rajkumar Wadhwa heads the Department of Gastroenterology.

Other specialists, surgeons, & doctors at Vikram Hospital & Heart Care include Dr. R Manjunath, MD, Dr. SN Rajeshwar, DMRD, Dr. M Mohan, MD, FCCP, Dr. Seethalakshmi, DA, MD, Dr. Madhuri Wadhwa, MD, Dr. Anjali Arun, MD, Dr. Nandakumar, MD, PDCCA, Dr. Krishna Kumari, MCP, Dr. KP Raichurkar, DMRD, DNB, Dr. BM Mahesh, DMRD, DNB, Dr. RG Srinivasa, DMRD, Dr. Sanmathi N, MS, Dr. Guru Prasad, MD, DM, DNB, Dr. Keshavamurthy, MD, DM, DNB, Dr. Upendra Shenoy, MS, MCh, Dr. Narendra G Nishanimath, MS, Dr. KM Srinivasmurthy, MS, Dr. MS Ranganath, MS, Dr. Raghavendran, MS, MCh, and Dr. KC Gurudev, MD, DNB.

DR. NAGENDRA PRAKASH, MS, FRACS, WHO HEADS THE DEPARTMENT OF CARDIOVASCULAR SURGERY, AS CHIEF CARDIOTHORACIC SURGEON, IS A NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY EXPERIENCED SURGEON ASSOCIATED WITH MORE THAN 10,000 ADULT CARDIAC SURGERIES. surgeons, & physicians. Both Dr. Bhaskar and Dr Vikram also practice as Physicians here.

Dr. Arun Srinivas, MD, DM, who heads the Cardiology Department as Consultant Cardiologist, is a distinguished doctor with enviable academic and professional achievements to his credit. He was Consultant Cardiologist at Wockhardt Hospital, Bangalore & Mallya Hospital, Bangalore, and Assistant Professor of Cardiology at St. John’s Medical College Hospital, Bangalore. Dr. Arun also holds three prestigious fellowships – in Paediatric Cardiology at Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia; in Coronary Intervention at Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia; and in Peripheral Vascular Intervention at Miami Vascular Institute and Arizona Heart Institute, USA. Dr. Nagendra Prakash, MS, FRACS, who heads the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, as Chief Cardiothoracic Surgeon, is a nationally and internationally experienced doctor associated with more than 10,000 adult cardiac surgeries. He was Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Chief Cardiac Surgeon at Mallya Hospital, Bangalore, Senior Registrar (Cardiothoracic Surgery) at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia, and Registrar (Cardiothoracic Surgery) at Apollo Hospital, Chennai.

Dr. Nagendra underwent his fellowship training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Under the guidance of this formidable team, Vikram Hospital & Heart Care is fast crossing several milestones.

In Cardiology, it has become the first hospital in Karnataka to perform over 200 trans-radial coronary angiogram procedures, the advantage of which is that patients can walk home after 3 hours of the angiogram! Vikram Hospital has performed over 5500 coronary angiogram procedures and 1000 coronary angioplasties & stents.

The Department of Cardiovascular Surgery has performed over 1000 Open Heart Surgeries with 99% success rate!

In Gastroenterology, Vikram is South India’s only hospital with more than 75 examinations of small intestine using double balloon enteroscope. And it has become the first hospital in Mysore to treat pancreatic stones without operation, using extra corporeal shockwave lithotripsy.

In Urology, Vikram Hospital is Karnataka’s pioneer in Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy (PCNL), and is the only hospital in Mysore to offer all modalities of treatment for kidney stones under one roof. Vikram also has a remarkable 100% success rate in renal transplant, and like all it’s services, offers this at an affordable rate.

With a string of such achievements, Vikram Hospital is in the big league of Karnataka’s, South India’s, and even the country’s noted multi-super-speciality hospitals. However, Dr. SB Vikram has never been a leader to rest on his laurels. Future plans include Vikram Healthcity, at Mysore, which will be a massive and comprehensive healthcare facility planned along international lines, with possible international collaboration.

On the research front, Vikram Hospital & Heart Care is soon getting into stem cell implantation for congestive heart failure patients, in association with leading institutions in Singapore & Malaysia.

Vikram is also offering its cardiac super-specialist consultations in Bangalore through Vital Medi-healthcare in Indiranagar, Bangalore, between 10 AM & 2 PM on Sundays.

NARAYANA NETHRALAYA Humanitarian, Thinker, Surgeon.

Home, Temple, Eye Hospital.

Home is usually where we welcome Guests. But here, it is always full of Guests. No one is considered as just ‘another patient’. And Indian spirituality teaches that a Guest is God. And that where God dwells is a Temple.

That is how Narayana Nethralaya successively becomes a Home, a Temple, and an Eye Hospital. In that order.

Much like its founder Dr. K Bhujang Shetty is first a Humanitarian, then a Thinker, then a Surgeon. That he was able to operate on 1 lakh “precious” eyes in his career, is due to this different priority, and not despite this, feels this one-of-his-kind surgeon, for whom the phrase ‘Work is Worship’ ceases to be a cliché.

Dr. K. Bhujang Shetty

“Remember, our inner intelligence has greater knowledge than all the doctors in the world put together, for doctors can only treat, whereas healing is from within” – so starts the small book ‘The Power of Love’. Reading this, all of us would assume that the book must be written by a religious thinker or philosopher. Somebody, who doesn’t regard the medical profession in high respect. But, strangely enough, the book is by an eye surgeon who has done more than one lakh eye surgeries in his career.

Welcome to the world of Dr. K. Bhujang Shetty.

When you roam around the 30,000 sq. ft. of the high-tech Narayana Nethralaya, spanning six-floors, - the first eye hospital in Karnataka to be ISO certified - the things you notice might not be the six state-of-the-art operation theatres, or the multi-crore worth ultra-modern equipments like Lasik, Lasers, GDX, OCT, Field Analysers, or even the family Deities installed with utmost respect at the most prime spot.

What catches your attention is the satisfaction of patients coming out of Dr. Shetty’s consulting room, and the confidence of patients waiting for their turn to meet this friendly doctor. We were prompt to point this out, and Dr. Shetty’s answer was typical of him, “I am happy that you noticed it, but we have to constantly work on it, and over and above, it is His Grace. By the way, did you notice the chanting?”

Chanting? Where? We were about to ask, when Dr. Shetty put a finger to his lips, and indicated us to remain silent, and listen. And there it was, the almost silent Sanskrit chanting seemingly coming out of nowhere but everywhere – soulful and spiritual, like a gentle brook in the valley. “It is played at low volume, but is non-stop and everywhere – in my room, the lifts, and even the operation theatres. You can hear it if you would stop talking, close your eyes, and listen.”

We were ready. There was much to learn from this human being opposite us. We started off our questions for Dr. Shetty: g As soon as we came to know that you had written a book, we wanted to ask you this – what is ‘The Power of Love’ all about?

“Nobody outside is responsible for our situation. Blessed is the man who finds fault with himself and not with others.” This appears in Chapter 3 of the book. I think it pretty much explains the book’s philosophy. “If we are to have better surroundings, we have to get to the cause, and the cause is within us, i.e. our thoughts and beliefs. Change them and the outer world will change automatically” – again, I have quoted from Chapter 3. g About the hospital, we know that you stress a lot on patient satisfaction. Is this Narayana Nethralaya’s real uniqueness?

Yes, absolutely yes. Because, as you know, there are hundreds of eye hospitals, and thousands of eye specialists.

Only a few among them are really bad! At all other places you can expect reasonable treatment. Maybe, we have an edge in high-end work due to our state-of-the-art equipment, but we wanted to be much more unique than this. What we concentrate on is genuine all-round help. A patient coming here is coming with his or her health worries – and nothing is considered more precious than eyesight and its comfort. We counsel him or her as a guest, friend, God. I believe that it is more important to help, than to treat. We even might not be able to treat a certain person, but we should be able to help, with sound advice. g But a happy patient is also the best spokesman for a doctor…

Yes, very much, but here we do it without that intention.

That word-of-mouth publicity happens is only a sideeffect. Because, I think it is very important to have our intentions pure. I put it down in the 5th Chapter of ‘The Power of Love’ – “Motive is everything, for our objectives determine our outcomes”. But good things are sure to follow good intentions and good deeds. “The easiest way to receive anything is wish it for someone who needs it” – again from Chapter 5. g Apart from the medical care & advice that you and your doctors provide, how is this patient satisfaction achieved?

Good question. The medical side is only one spoke of the wheel. The care should start from the security personnel keeping the gate,

NARAYANA NETHRALAYA and continue through the words and deeds of each and every staff. Our administrator Mrs. Premila Rao’s eyes reach everywhere, to ensure this warmth. You will be surprised to know that we have inpatient assistants here – who are not nurses or ward boys – just to frequently enquire after the comfort of our patients, and more importantly to talk with them. Then there are those subtle things, like the chanting. g How does it help?

Traditionally, background chanting has always been used to soothe and alleviate worries and fears. It works by constantly reminding us of the Higher Power behind us, which is the real source of help for all. For us doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, it works by negating our ego that says that we are the ones in control. Ego is something to be destroyed in everyone in this world, for true peace to arrive. g So far you explained about the humane side.

Now, can you explain the medical side of Narayana Nethralaya?

Well, we are a super-speciality hospital for the eye i.e. we have separate departments, medical expertise, and high-tech equipments dedicated for different kinds of eye problems. For example, we have departments like Vitreo-Retinal, Cornea & Lasik, Paediatric Ophthalmology & Squint, Glaucoma, Uvea, Ocular Oncology & Oculoplasty, Speciality Macular Clinic, and Ocular Genetics & Genetic Counselling – in short, everything for the eye. Two things we are especially focussing on are diabetic problems of the eye like retinopathy, and the latest Lasik treatments for permanent removal of glasses & contact lenses. However, as in every other eye hospital, the bulk of our surgeries – nearly 80% are for cataracts with implantation of intra ocular lens (IOL). We really differ in the other 20%, in which we do all kinds of specialised and rare procedures, many of them not done in smaller eye hospitals. g A hospital like this doesn’t happen overnight. Can you tell us something about your background and vision?

Yes, it doesn’t happen overnight. I had a very humble beginning, being born in a village, without much scope for education. But my uncle – my father’s elder brother – Narayana Shetty, thought that we shouldn’t waste our lives, and brought us to Bangalore as kids, and enrolled me in Baldwin Boys High School. From that moment life started for me. I went on to study at Bangalore Medical College for MBBS, and later for MS, there itself. Looking back, I wouldn’t have got the opportunity to pass even the 10th grade, but for my uncle. I would have surely missed the bus. So, after my MS, when I decided that I don’t want to go for government service, or abroad, but should start my

own eye hospital, the name was automatic – Narayana Nethralaya. I was not his son, yet he had helped me more than a father. My uncle has been a huge influence in our family, and Dr. Devi Shetty’s Narayana Hrudayalaya is also named after him. Dr. Devi is his son-in-law. Earlier, Narayana Nethralaya was at a small premises, but we shifted here around 12 years back. There weren’t many eye hospitals of this scale in those days, but the need was huge. I knew that my own two hands won’t be enough, and soon enrolled other specialist hands to work with me. Now, we are 25 consultants, here. g How well-equipped is the hospital?

In hospital service, we often joke that if you stop running, you go backward. And acquiring high-tech equipment is something like cycling. The moment you stop updating, you fall down! But jokes apart, we want the best equipment for

Dr. Bhujang Shetty with Dalai Lama. Also seen, Dr. Devi Shetty.

our patients. The key objectives are faster diagnosis, better safety, and enhanced comfort. For example, very early detection of Glaucoma is now possible here, thanks to our GDX equipment. Similarly, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) has vastly increased the depth of our diagnosis in retinal diseases. Before OCT, we only had a 2D picture from which to diagnose, now with OCT we can have live 3D slices of the retina. In treatment too, the impact is huge. We have installed the latest 4th generation Excimer Laser for Lasik Zyoptix-100 surgeries, which is the world’s best system today for correcting long sight & short sight without glasses or contacts. The Millennium Micro Surgical System from Bausch & Lomb that we have acquired has revolutionised Cataract Surgery through a process called phacoemulsification that eliminates the need for stitches.

Our other high-end equipment include Argon, Diode, &

YAG Lasers, Ultrasound B-Scan, Topography & Orbscan, Field Analysers, Fundus Camera, ERG, A-B Scan, Laser Indirect Ophthalmoscope, Photo Dynamic Therapy etc.

attending on diabetic related eye problems. Thirdly, we have sophisticated laser procedures needed for diabetic eye problems.

g You mentioned your stress on eyes problems due to diabetes and the various Lasik treatments. Can you elaborate?

Diabetes has both genetic reasons as well as lifestyle reasons like overeating, lack of exercise, and stress. A study done in India, showed that while only 4% of the rural population has diabetes, a whopping 12.5% of the urban population suffers from it! And as you might know already, with 40 million cases, India is the world’s diabetes capital. But you won’t be knowing that diabetes patients are 25 times more prone to blindness! As a cutting-edge eye hospital, we can’t ignore this problem. Diabetes can accelerate conditions like

g And what about Lasik?

As I told you earlier, we have the world’s most advanced Lasik Zyoptix machine to correct refractive problems like short sight, long sight etc without glasses or contacts. But more than that, we have a thoroughbred professional who heads our Refractive Surgery Department, Dr. Rohit Shetty, who underwent training and fellowship in Germany and USA on refractive surgery. He has presented many research papers, and conducted training sessions on this subject at international conferences. Under his guidance, our Department has successfully conducted more than 10,000 Lasik surgeries. Dr. Rohit himself will talk to you more about this subject.

Dr. Shetty with Dr. Rajkumar

cataract and glaucoma, and more importantly result in diabetic retinopathy. If this condition is left untreated, retina can bleed, blood can get into the eyeball, and finally cause blindness. g What are your strategies for combating diabetes related problems?

Well, developing proper awareness is the single-most important step against diabetes. You will be surprised to know that, even in developed countries, diabetes is the biggest cause for blindness. Why does this happen?

Because, most diabetes patients just don’t know that their eyes need to be checked every 6 months. Hence, our strategy too starts by creating awareness. Every patient who registers here, whether he or she has diabetes or not, gets a small diabetes literature. The idea is that even if he or she doesn’t have the disease, it will be useful for some friend or relative.

This literature contains the precautions to be taken by diabetes patients. Secondly, we are one of the rare eye hospitals in India, where 4 surgeons are dedicated for

g 12 years into operation, how far has your vision changed? What are the plans for the future?

Our vision has not changed much, but some ground realities have. The greatest change is that due to technological advances, most eye surgeries have become outpatient procedures. Only a few procedures still require inpatient care. Mirroring this change, some years back itself, we stopped expanding room-wise, and started expanding theatre-wise.

Now, we have six state-of-the-art operation theatres, which is a rare infrastructure. Today, we can undertake 100 surgeries a day. We also have full-fledged facilities for 50 inpatients. Regarding future plans, we are building an eye hospital twice the size of this one at Narayana Hrudayalaya Health City. There the stress will be on training and community services, apart from treatment. g What are your charitable and community initiatives?

First of all, our policy is that no patient would be turned back solely due to lack of funds, if his or hers is a deserving case. If our help would cure them, nothing will prevent us from giving them help. Our rates also reflect this – we have graded rates, from the actual cost of the surgery, through various subsidised grades, to a fully free option.

You can think it of as a 20-to-0 scale. Only the medicallyinsured or affluent patients are charged the actual cost i.e. at grade-20, and all deserving cases get a subsidy according to their need. We are part of the Yeshaswini Scheme promoted by Narayana Hrudayalaya and the Government of Karnataka, under which farmers get free eye care. To do our part in helping India’s 3 million cornea-blind people, long back itself we had started an eye bank with the blessings of Dr. Rajkumar. We named it Dr. Rajkumar Eye Bank, and he has also pledged his eyes with us. We also

NARAYANA NETHRALAYA

that much more could be done. For example, today, in India, 10 million people suffer from avoidable blindness, mainly due to cataract. A cataract surgery with an IOL transplant would fully cure them. Still, out of poverty, they are not able to do this. At our new hospital coming up in Narayana Hrudayalaya Health City, we want to go after this backlog. Crack it open, by offering 200 free cataract surgeries a day.

You mentioned training. What are your educational initiatives?

Our hospital is recognized for DNB course by The National Board of Examinations, and we have been running the course for some time now. We are also an institutional member of the Federation of Ophthalmic Research Education Centre - India (FOREC) and have obtained permission to start BSc (Hons) in Ophthalmic Techniques in association with IGNOU. And as I told you earlier, we want to focus on training at our new hospital coming up in the Health City. We are investing so much in high-tech equipment and specialists. It should also be used for training the next generation of eye surgeons.

g

g Finally, something about your family…

Well, they have always been the inspiration behind all these.

Especially my wife, who is a pillar of strength. My daughter Naina Shetty is our Co-ordinator for the Department of Ocular Genetics & Genetic Counselling. It is a very rare field that studies family inherited eye diseases and gives forewarnings like not to go in for consanguineous marriages that can cause eye diseases at birth. Naina has graduated in Biotech with specialization in Genetics. She is married to Dr. Rohit Shetty,

who heads our Refractive Surgery Department. My younger son is studying at Medical College. We all hope that he joins us!

Dr. Shetty is a thorough family man, a caring husband, and affectionate father. We were surprised to know that for a doctor who has achieved much, Dr. Shetty works only 9 to 5. “I get up at 4, read, meditate, introspect, pray, and start work by 9, which goes on till 5. After that I make it a point to come home, be available for my family, and also meditate about the day and its happenings, with gratitude, and acknowledges how God shapes our lives, each one of us at the hospital and the family.”

Dr. Bhujang Shetty might seem a blessed man, blessed with everything. But as he himself says, “It is not only with me. Each one of us is a magnificent, outstanding, remarkable being God has created. The real blessing is an awareness of this. We have to look around, look inside, and introspect, so that we see the Divine helping us. I look back and see God helping me through my Uncle. I look back and see God’s hand in Ophthalmology being my subject. On the converse, all unfortunate happenings too must be taken in our stride. There is no point in complaining against anything, anyone. As I put it down in ‘The Power of Love’, “Every time we complain, we complain against Him. Every time we are unhappy, we are unhappy with Him.”

NARAYANA NETHRALAYA “We Keep Pace With the World’s Best” He is the new, young face of Narayana Nethralaya.

Trained in US & Germany, Dr. Rohit Shetty, is spearheading the hospital’s foray into Research and Medical Tourism, apart from his core area of Refractive Surgery and Lasik. Here, he speaks about the misunderstandings about Lasik, the importance of Research in Ophthalmology, and his plans for Dr. Rohit Shetty

g What is behind this ‘noise’ about Lasik?

Yes, ‘noise’ is the correct word. So much commotion is made about this technology. Even in developed countries, this is the situation. When you land in a US city, and get out of the airport, the first hoarding you see is of Lasik, next to McDonalds! The reason is obvious – Lasik can correct long-sight and short-sight, without requiring glasses or contacts. So, it is a huge market. But we think it is unfortunate that Lasik is being promoted as a cosmetic surgery, and prescribed for anyone with glasses. Nobody looks into the equipment used, the surgical team’s expertise, and whether Lasik is suitable for an individual case or not. g What all points should a patient enquire before considering Lasik?

First is whether your case is suitable for Lasik or not. In our experience, around 60 to 65% of the total patients approaching us for Lasik, are suitable for the procedure. The rest have to be turned back, and we advise them to continue with glasses or contacts. But at many eye hospitals and Lasik centres, everyone is treated, and even worse, these centres keep on advertising, luring more and more unsuspecting people. This is the number one reason why Lasik has got a bad name now. Secondly, one should enquire what is the expertise and what are the protocols followed by the surgery team, as well as how many Lasik surgeries have been done there. We follow the world’s best protocols for Lasik, and our department has a track record of 10,000 Lasik surgeries. Thirdly, one should enquire what is the equipment used.

Here, we use the Lasik Zyoptix 100 machine, which is the world’s best, as of today. Only around 25 institutions in the world have this machine. It improves the safety, precision, and predictability of the outcome. g You mentioned protocols. Why are they important?

Protocols define the precise steps with which an institute does a procedure or surgery, be it Lasik or any other. We follow the world’s best protocols i.e. the protocols used by the world’s best

the boom in Medical Tourism: Medical Universities. A small eye hospital or Lasik centre normally doesn’t go for such perfection. Why we take this extra effort is two-fold – firstly, we want the best results for our patients, and secondly, we want our work to be of research quality, fit to be published in the world’s best medical journals. g Which brings us to our next question – why do you stress so much on research?

Well, when we work day-to-day in a hospital, and have sufficient practice, we tend to think that everything will be fine. But it is not so. We don’t know what other hospitals worldwide are doing. My experience in US & Germany convinced me about the importance of being at the cutting-edge, always. How do we go about it? We have to participate in national and international seminars, present our own papers, learn from the papers of other doctors, and so forth. I should say we are lucky to have a sufficiently young team of specialists here, who are as enthusiastic as me in presenting their own papers in international seminars. Presenting papers is a very costly affair, and it is also not easy for a paper to be accepted in international forums. Still, I can proudly say that even the most demanding of forums, the American Academy, has accepted our papers. And most importantly, we want to be future ready – when stem cell or gene therapy starts within 5 to 10 years from now. g Medical Tourism is another of your focus areas. How well is Narayana Nethralaya performing on this front?

I should say we have made a good start. We have patients coming in from the US, Ireland, and various African countries. Some come after prior discussions through email, while some just walk-in during their visit to Bangalore. Currently, we have 100 to 150 foreign patients getting treated here, every year. I see a huge potential on this front, not necessarily due to the cost benefits or the waiting-lists in developed countries, but due to the familial care that Indian doctors and nurses can provide. Having worked in America & Europe, I know that this is something missing in the West. .

THE BANGALORE HOSPITAL “Owned by Doctors, for Patients” 15 years back, the idea for The Bangalore Hospital was novel. Because, it was the first independent multi-super-speciality hospital in Bangalore. 15 years later, The Bangalore Hospital is still unique because it remains the only multi-super-speciality hospital in Bangalore, owned by a community of committed doctors, rather than a business group or industrialist. This aspect – the issue of ownership – provides the crucial advantage to patients, feels Dr. C. Munichoodappa, Managing Director.

“We are not here to build an empire. If that were the case, each one of us could have built our own empires,” says Dr. C. Munichoodappa, referring to the 40 specialist doctors including him, who jointly owns The Bangalore Hospital. When we came to know about their backgrounds, it was clear that this was no tall claim.

Most of them were enjoying enviable practices at either USA, UK, or Bangalore. For example, Dr. Munichoodappa was the first to start the speciality of Diabetology in Karnataka. “But Bangalore was a frustrating place for specialist doctors to be, 25 years back. The facilities were poor.” That is how Dr. KS Shekar, Dr. Munichoodappa, Dr. DG Benkappa, and Dr. MN Subramanya took the initiative as founder promoters to bring together as many committed specialist doctors as they can to build Bangalore’s first independent super-speciality hospital.

The story of The Bangalore Hospital is fascinating in that this is how hospitals should be built – by doctors, for all patients; and not by businessmen with black money for only rich patients. Dr. Munichoodappa speaks to Seasonal Magazine about the struggle behind The Bangalore Hospital, his unique team of doctor-promoters, the ethics of

Dr. C. Munichoodappa

modern healthcare, and how this institution always puts its patients first: g The Bangalore Hospital is an unlikely experiment. What led to this?

25 years back, Bangalore didn’t have much medical facilities.

The medical expertise i.e. the specialist doctors were there, but not the infrastructure or high-tech facilities. We were fed up of understanding the patient’s problem perfectly but having to refer to Vellore or Mumbai. Some of us were in government service and medical colleges, and also fed up with the pathetic conditions there. At the same time, we were in constant touch with our friends who were practicing in USA & UK, and sensed an interest in many of them to come back to Karnataka and serve the state. That is how Dr. KS Shekar, myself, Dr. DG Benkappa, and Dr. MN Subramanya got together and decided that the only solution would be establishing a super-speciality hospital. That was in the early 1980s. g How difficult was it to arrange the funds?

Very difficult. It was so tough that, although the idea was conceived in early 1980s, we could start the construction only by 1987, and had to wait until 1991 to complete it and commence operation! The money problem was two-fold – first, none of us were businessmen or industrialists playing with other people’s money, and secondly, this was the pre-liberalization period when loans from financial institutions were very very difficult to come by. Working with the various government agencies to get the necessary clearances, was also a time-

THE BANGALORE HOSPITAL consuming process. The only good thing happening over those long years was that we kept on attracting more and more specialist doctors into our project. But, many of them had long-term commitments to keep with foreign hospitals and universities where they were working, and also required considerable specialist equipment on our side before they could move in.

including the ICU. Within six months, we also commissioned the Cardiac Cathlab for undertaking major cardiac surgeries. Kidney Transplant followed soon after, and around 2 years back we also added the Neonatal ICU. Together with all our other departments - that were there from the beginning - that pretty much completed the entire requirements for a comprehensive multi-super-speciality hospital.

g How did you finally manage to start?

Finally, it was evident that at least some of us would have to put in everything we had into the project. And that is how it happened - 5 or 6 of us pledged every single penny and asset we had, and secured a loan from IDBI for Rs. 4 crores. If the project hadn’t worked out, we would have been in the road!

The risk was that huge.

g Is there anything that The Bangalore Hospital can’t do today?

No, not at all. There is no speciality or no special procedure that we can’t do. The only difference is that we don’t brag that we can do this procedure or that technique. For example, we have many patients from Pakistan, Bangladesh, & Sri Lanka, coming here for kidney transplant or bypass surgery. But we don’t sensationalize such issues to grab attention. Many so-called ‘special procedures’ at other city hospitals, are routine work here. We don’t have to refer our patients to any other hospital. Maybe the only thing we lack now is the MRI scan, which we are still debating on whether to acquire or not. But that Dr. K. R. Srimurthy discussion is on a totally different ground, something to do with our ethics.

g It must have taken great courage to do this…

Yes, but we were confident of our team. If committed specialist doctors like us who put patient welfare before money, could build a hospital, we Dr. Subba Rao were sure patients would prefer us.

You will be surprised to know that, to this day, we have relied only on word-of-mouth publicity through our patients and their relatives, and not blatant ads like how most corporate hospitals of our size do. g You mentioned the team. Apart from the four founder promoters including you, how is this team special?

Oh, well, each and every one of our specialist doctors are highly accomplished in their professional fields. Many of them are pioneers too in their respective disciplines. For example, Dr. Talwalkar was the first to start dialysis in Karnataka. Dr. Vivek Kadambi was the first to start Lasik in the state, and perhaps even in India. Incidentally, I was the first to start diabetology in Karnataka. It was in the 1970s, and people thought I was out of my mind, then! And we have so many specialists and surgeons of international repute – for example Dr. Aswath N Rao, is a renowned cardiologist and angioplasty specialist, who has two decades of experience in USA behind him. He remains a US citizen, and so are another three of our specialist doctors. Dr. Subba Rao is another world-renowned cardiac surgeon, who has vast experience in India and abroad. Prior to starting practice here, he was with Escorts, Delhi. But I should stop mentioning some names randomly, as most of our specialist doctors are either pioneers or very renowned in their fields. g Are all the promoting doctors also practicing here?

Most of them. But around 6 doctors are still in the US or UK. They would be joining us in the coming few years, we hope. g Starting from 1991, what were the major milestones?

Well, one unique aspect of this institution was that we had all the basic facilities for a general hospital from day one onwards,

g That sounds interesting. Can you explain it further?

We have neighbouring facilities for MRI. And as you know, it costs a few crore rupees to get one. As of now, we are not going for it because we fear that it will dilute our principles. Because, you know, once a hospital acquires a machinery that costs a bomb, the pressure will be there to utilize it somehow, and thus make returns on the investment.

We are not in that business. You won’t find a hospital that behaves like this today. If an equipment is affordable, and big money can be made out of it, most hospitals wouldn’t blink an eye before acquiring it.

And, there are no personal incentives for any of us to get an MRI for the hospital – because we don’t accept commissions, cuts, bribes, and the like. Currently, we rely on MRI facilities nearby. But there is no hard and fast rule regarding anything. We will go for it if there is a genuine need. But not definitely for business reasons. g Are you a referral hospital too?

Yes, we are. A significant percentage of our patients are referred to us by smaller hospitals as well as individual doctors. And none of them refer to us because we pay commissions or bribes. We don’t have any such unethical arrangements. And we also have a significant percentage of our patients coming here directly, thanks to our renowned team of specialists. g Can you explain the economic and demographic profile of your patients?

We attract patients mainly from Bangalore, and also from various parts of the state, as well as neighbouring states like Tamilnadu and

which doesn’t run into a few lakhs, if not crossing the 1 crore barrier. Government doesn’t provide any kind of assistance to acquire these equipments, and they don’t even write off the customs duty. Earlier such an arrangement was there, but the Government tied it up with impractical conditions like 40% patients should be treated free and all. Now they don’t help an iota, but we are at least grateful that they don’t interfere!

Andhra Pradesh. Most of them are from Bangalore, South Karnataka, Chittoor, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Salem etc. They mainly belong to the upper-middle-class to upper-class segments, but are not necessarily elite. We also admit poor patients.

g Do you have corporate clients, like IT companies?

And what percentage of your patients comes with medical insurance?

We do have such arrangements, especially with some public sector undertakings for treating their employees at reduced rates, but nowadays most corporates like IT and new-generation companies route their employees through the insurance companies. We lead in this segment, with over 60% of our patients having some kind of medical insurance. A recent unhealthy development is that insurance companies and TPAs are trying to force hospitals to charge less for their clients. We think it is not fair that those without insurance pay high and those with insurance pay less!

g How do you tackle the issue of rising healthcare costs?

Healthcare costs are rising because almost all the necessary high-tech equipment needed for specialist care are imported from developed countries, and priced according to their standards. There is no equipment

g As a hospital, do you have any charitable initiatives here?

Yes, as I told you, we do admit poor patients, and provide them with partially-free to free healthcare, as their individual case warrants.

Because, we believe that nobody should be denied urgent treatment just

Dr. Vivek Kadambi

“Our specialists are either pioneers or renowned authorities in their fields” was another serious issue to be attended, he added. Dr. M. Madaiah, Urologist, explained the latest techniques his department is employing like, Endoscopic Urology, Surgical Urology, Laparoscopic Urology, Colour Doppler etc to diagnose and correct urologic problems. Apart from routine treatments like stone removal, the department is also fully equipped to treat tumours and malignancies. Dr. S. Hemachandra Shetty, Orthopaedic Dr. M. Udaya S u r g e o n , Kumar Maiya, enlightened us on Oncologist, the now booming explained to us the field of hip and joint importance of early Dr. M. Udaya Kumar Maiya Dr. S. Hemachandra Shetty Dr. M. Madaiah replacement. diagnosis in Cancer Patients afflicted treatment. Breast cancer, he said, was on the rise, and avoidance of breastfeeding with arthritis need not be depressed anymore – problematic was one risk factor. Interestingly, Dr. Maiya stressed the need joints like the knees and even the hip are artificially made for better awareness among general practitioners and family available these days, and can be successfully replaced, thus physicians, so that the patient is brought before specialists like regaining motility and ending pain. The Orthopaedic him without losing precious time. Palliative care, to ease pain, Department also undertakes routine cases due to trauma like bone and joint surgery, and even complicated spinal surgeries.

Dr. C. Munichoodappa is a true leader – we knew it the moment he asked us not to confine our interviews and data collection to just him. “Meet as many of our specialist team members as you can. That will give you a better picture of the work we do.” Nothing could have been truer. What emerged after meeting just 8 specialists was a wider picture – of professionalism, dedication, and caring.

THE BANGALORE HOSPITAL because they can’t afford it. But over and above this, all our rates are kept very reasonable so that all our patients, whether middleclass or poor, get affordable treatment, and at the same time we are enabled to run the hospital on our own. It is very very difficult, you see, to run a hospital of this size and expertise, without the backing of any government agency, religious group, or businessmen. But we proved that we can do it. We don’t receive any charity, but make sure that we provide charity to the needy, as much as we can. g Standing where you are now – completing 15 years of operation – how far has your vision changed? What are your plans for the future?

Our original vision has not changed a bit. Our concern is our patient. We are not here to exploit our patient in anyway. I agree with you that there are lots of market pressures to dilute this vision. But, we won’t. Regarding the future, we have so many plans. To formalize our quality concerns, we are going in for the ISO certification. We are also deeply concerned about the poor quality treatment meted out to Karnataka’s rural population. As a part of addressing this issue, we had taken over a hospital in rural Bannerghata, and it is now running effectively as KVG Bangalore Hospital. Another plan is on for Hubli, where we will help local doctors become part of the new hospital we are planning there. We might also start a new hospital at Hosur. All of

Dr. AS Ram Manohar, Pulmonologist, also stressed on the need for early intervention, in various respiratory diseases.

Lifestyle conditions like pollution and smoking are the main culprits behind various allergies, he explained. Living in Bangalore was especially likely to increase the gravity of respiratory allergies, asthma, bronchitis etc due to the high pollen density in the air, he added. Dr. Vivek Kadambi, Eye and Lasik Specialist, educated us on a variety of topics like the advantages of the latest Lasik treatment, cataract surgery, eye donation etc. He was of the view that the cosmetic benefit of Lasik was nowadays given too much stress. The real advantages of modern eye treatments were better safety, better quality of vision, better depth of focus, and better predictability of the outcome. Dr. Kadambi has international achievements to his credit, and specializes in treating presbyopia using laser.

Dr. Naresh Bhatt, Gastroenterologist, is a pioneer in the field and has contributed much to making the Gastroenterology Department a high-end referral centre in the field. Dr. Lorence Peter, Gastroenterologist, specializes in GI Motility, and has contributed much to the Department being held in high-esteem.

The speciality departments at The Bangalore Hospital include, Diabetology, Pulmonology, Cardiology, Cardiac Cathlab, Gastroenterology, Nephrology, Psychiatry, Neurology, Neuro

Dr. Naresh Bhatt

these might take longer than expected, much like how it was for this hospital, because we are caring doctors and not businessmen!

When we returned from The Bangalore Hospital after meeting Dr. Munichoodappa and several of his specialist doctors, one thing was prime in our mind. That the hospital’s vision – ‘a corporate hospital with co-operative spirit’ – and its mission – ‘compassion unlimited’ – . were no hollow claims.

Surgery, Oncology, Haematology, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Paediatrics & Neonatology, General Surgery, Paediatric Surgery, Urology, Cardio Thoracic & Vascular Surgery, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, ENT, Ophthalmology, Endocrinology & Infertility, Dentistry, Pathology, Radio Diagnosis etc, and the hospital has 6 ultra modern surgical theatres.

Diabetes Tips Dr. C. Munichoodappa also spoke in detail about his specialization. Here, he provides 10 tips to manage the disease.

1) If a patient is disciplined, one can lead an almost normal life and expect near normal longevity. 2) It is important to diagnose diabetes early enough. 3) For every person diagnosed with diabetes, there are two persons who don’t know. 4) The greatest danger is undetected or untreated diabetes. 5) By the time such patients arrive for help, serious complications like kidney failure or neuropathy might have occurred. 6) Chronic stress – as in the modern workplace – can increase your chances of diabetes. 7) Too much food and too little exercise can also increase your chances. 8) Potbelly is an early indicator / risk factor for diabetes. 9) Diabetes has genetic (inherited from family) as well as lifestyle reasons. 10) India leads in the occurrence of diabetes due to a genetic predisposition. .

VYDEHI INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES & RESEARCH CENTRE

“We Operate at a Larger Scale, in Both Our Size and Our Commitment” Everything about Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre at Whitefield, Bangalore, is larger than life. It starts from its Chairman D.K. Audikesavulu, who is a leader of the masses, social worker, noted Satya Saidevotee, and the visionary behind such groundbreaking projects like the 144-acres Shantiniketan Township in Whitefield. It extends to key leaders who manage this state-of-the-art Medical College like its Director D.A. Kalpaja, its Advisor Dr. S. Kantha who was the first Vice-Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, and its Administrator Major General (Ret’d) Anju Manchanda, recipient of Visisht Seva Medal, one of the top honours in the Indian Army. With 65 acres of beautiful campus, a 1000-bedded multi-super-speciality hospital, unique treatment centres in Rehabilitation & Ayurveda, and separate teaching institutes for Biotech, Dental, & Nursing, Vydehi can upset most Medical College in sheer physical size. “But even bigger is our commitment to our students and the local community,” says Maj. Gen. Anju Manchanda.

VYDEHI INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES & RESEARCH CENTRE You must have heard of hospitals providing free treatment to the needy. They exist, though rare. But you probably won’t have heard of hospitals also providing free medicines. Because they are so rare. And in any case, you will never have heard of a hospital providing free treatment, free medicines, and even free food! Because, such a hospital doesn’t exist.

Except at EPIP Area, Whitefield, Bangalore. Welcome to Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre.

Where 30% of the 1000-bedded multi-super-speciality facility is permanently set aside for completely free treatment to the needy, i.e. completely free from entry to exit!

And Vydehi is an enthusiastic partner in the Karnataka Government sponsored scheme, Yeshaswini Farmer’s Cooperative Health Insurance, the path-breaking project that brought almost-free healthcare to millions of farmers.

But let these not give you an impression that Vydehi is some sort of a charitable setup, where social concerns take full precedence over quality concerns. Vydehi stays at the world’s cutting-edge in clinical competence and research; partnerships with California State University at Los Angeles (CSULA) for Rehabilitation, and University of Georgia for Biotechnology, are just two examples.

Vydehi is at an enviable neighbourhood in Whitefield; neighbours include International Tech Park Ltd (ITPL),

healthcare organizations like GE Medical Systems & Sri Satya Sai Super Speciality Hospital, and high-profile IT companies like IBM, Dell, SAP, GE, Intel etc. – some of them Vydehi’s corporate clients too. Vydehi has everything that corporate clients are looking for. For example, special suites at Vydehi include facilities like Cable TV, Room Service, Hot Water, & Multi-cuisine Diet.

Chairman D.K. Audikesavalu is never known to think small. Be it his social work, or be it his D.K. Audikesavulu, Chairman commercial projects. For example, the umbrella organization for his varied initiatives, the Srinivasa Trust, has done unimaginably complex projects like providing drinking water to over 1000 villages in Andhra Pradesh and is a leading facilitator of free education in different parts of the country. When it comes to commercial projects too, very few leaders think in the scale that he thinks. The best example, of course, is Shantiniketan, the pristinelyplanned 144-acres township coming up at Whitefield, which includes business complexes, residential complexes, schools, hospitals, shopping malls, clubs, recreation centres, convention centres, star hotels – in short, everything!

35 SEASONAL 2006

VYDEHI INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES & RESEARCH CENTRE – Vydehi Institute of Rehabilitation, & Vydehi AyurvedaGram.

All these six institutions share the 65-acres Vydehi Campus, but let this not fool you into believing that Vydehi Campus is a concrete jungle. Only 10% of the campus is covered with concrete structures, and the rest 90% is landscaped with gardens, lush greenery, and vast play areas. Facilities exist for such sports like Cricket, Basketball, Volleyball etc, and the indoor recreational infrastructure includes swimming pool, multi-gym, badminton courts etc.

And D.K. Audikesavalu is no newcomer to the healthcare field. His earlier project in healthcare is in Bangalore City, the renowned Mallya Hospital. At 250-beds and spanning multiple super-specialities, Mallya is known for its cuttingedge technology infrastructure, the latest addition to its arsenal being the Mallya-Asha Biofeedback Centre for assisting children & adults with physical disabilities due to various reasons.

Today, Vydehi Group of Institutions at EPIP Area in Whitefield consists of four individual academic institutions - Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Vydehi Institute of Dental Sciences, Vydehi Institute of Nursing Sciences, & Vydehi Institute of Biotech Sciences, and two specialised treatment centres

What is surprising is that the 10% concrete includes a whopping 1.75 lakh sq. ft. area for student hostels, and another 1.09 lakh sq. ft. space for staff quarters! Separate hostels are there for boys and girls with facilities like independent hostel libraries, and options like twin or triple occupancy. Staff quarters have single, twin, or triple occupancy options. Common amenities include 24-hour security, maintenance, water supply, & children’s play area.

No wonder Vydehi is a predominantly residential setup; the majority of the students and staff reside in this welldesigned campus.

Courses like MBBS and DNB are offered by Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre. The MBBS is approved by the Medical Council of India, and affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. DNB courses are offered in all clinical disciplines.

VYDEHI INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES & RESEARCH CENTRE The MBBS at Vydehi is noted for various unique approaches including a mentoring system, systematic hospital service, and rigorous library-centric learning.

Under the mentoring system, each student is assigned to a physician at the hospital, who will mentor his student as a teacher, friend, confidant, & advocate. Through regular visits to the mentor’s consulting room, the student will get to directly observe the practical application of their classroom learning.

The stress given to hospital service in the MBBS course at Vydehi is evident from the fact that it is a year-round program all through the five & half years of medical school.

Hospital service includes such components as patient advocacy, medical care, interdisciplinary clinical experience, community health services, seminars etc.

Library-centric learning is facilitated by the 50,000 strong collection of books, manuals, journals, and case studies.

Spanning an impressive 30,000 sq. ft. area, the Vydehi Library also has a vast audio-visual collection of the works of eminent surgeons, by way of their presentations, lectures, operations etc. The passion with which the Library is used by the students and the faculty is something remarkable.

They are also in constant touch with the latest happening across the globe, thanks to Vydehi’s high-speed Internet connectivity.

Maj. Gen. Anju Manchanda, Administrator

Vydehi has gained a lot from the vision brought to the institution by Dr. S. Kantha, and the administrative calibre of Maj. Gen. Anju Manchanda.

As a person with vast experience in the field of medical education – she was the first Vice-Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore - Dr. Kantha was instrumental in adopting a strategy that gives equal weightage to the breadth of liberal learning and the depth of professional preparation – two objectives that are usually at loggerheads. Says Dr. Kantha, “Our students do not have to choose between these two aspects. We know that the truly

No doubt the Vydehi MBBS students gain from these wide specialities, as well as from the high-tech equipments & facilities like Cardiac Cathlab, MRI, Spiral CT, Cardiac Echo Machine, Ultrasound, Linear Accelerator etc.

This massive infrastructure has also enabled Vydehi Hospital to offer various Health Check-up Programs.

educated professional needs both. Our curriculum brings together these two indispensable elements for a complete college education in medicine.”

Maj. Gen. Anju Manchanda, a medical professional, brings to the institution something very unique – the power-packed yet tactful management seen at military hospitals that ensures that everything works smoothly even under situations of extreme crisis. Maj. Gen. Anju was the Commanding Officer of Military Hospital, Rajouri, and later of Military Hospital, Shimla. Both being risk prone areas, these hospitals had to accommodate large numbers of casualties at short notice. Even the very existence of these hospitals was under threat. Once the Shimla hospital caught fire in a bad way, and it was to Maj. Gen. Anju’s credit that she acted quickly to restore order, and shift the hospital safely to a temporary location. No wonder, she was awarded the Visisht Seva Medal (VSM), one of the top honours of the Indian Army. Later, as a Brigadier in Delhi, she was in charge of admissions to the prestigious Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), where she undertook her work with remarkable fairness, bending before no pressure.

Listen to her recounting her experiences, even for 5 minutes, and you will realize that her life is fit enough for an autobiography. Already, she is writing one.

While most young medical colleges go for the bare minimum departments, and equipment, the 1000-bedded Vydehi Hospital has speciality departments like Cardiology, Oncology, Nephrology, Urology, Pulmonology, General Medicine, General Surgery, Ophthalmology, ENT, Dermatology, Orthopaedics, Psychiatry, Paediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Dental Science, and several Speciality Clinics.

The other teaching institutions in the Vydehi Campus, viz.

Vydehi Institute of Dental Sciences, Vydehi Institute of Nursing Sciences, & Vydehi Institute of Biotech Sciences, all have gained great momentum being situated aside a medical college.

Vydehi Institute of Dental Sciences is approved by the Dental Council of India, and is affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences for the BDS course. The dental college is noted for its curricular stress on compulsory rotational internship at the hospital as well as the outreach programs to neighbouring rural communities – thus providing Vydehi BDS students with an unmatched scope for experiencing diverse dental cases.

Vydehi Institute of Nursing Sciences offers both BSc Nursing and General Nursing & Midwifery Course. The former is affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, and the latter to the Karnataka Nursing Board. Apart from preparing candidates for professional nursing roles, a strong emphasis is there to develop a foundation for further studies in a specialized area of nursing practice, as would be required in future healthcare delivery systems.

Learning Biotechnology at Vydehi Institute of Biotechnology might be an experience of a lifetime – for Vydehi has gone all out to build an exotic Medicinal Plants Park and a world-class Tissue Culture Laboratory. Coupled with extensive IT & Internet facilities, and Biotech professionals like Dr. KV Devaraj, who is the Director, Vydehi presents compelling reasons as to why it should be the first choice for BSc, MSc, and Short Term Courses in this sunrise subject. The Institute is also associated with the University of Georgia, to bring the latest developments in this subject, to the campus.

The Medical College is also the venue where various paramedical courses are conducted. These include BSc programs in 4 subjects – Operation Theatre Technology, Radiology, Renal Dialysis Technology, & Anaesthesia Technology.

The two specialised treatment centres at the Vydehi Campus – the Vydehi Institute of Rehabilitation and Vydehi AyurvedaGram speak about the passion with which the management regards these offbeat yet holistic areas of help to the patient population.

One of the most sought after centres of its kind in the country, Vydehi Institute of Rehabilitation offers an array of treatments ranging from those addressing the most difficult of the disabilities to early intervention programs.

The marvellous infrastructure for rehabilitating children and adults, use therapies like Occupational Therapy, Speech and Auditory Training, Vision Therapy, Sensory Integrative Therapy, Music Therapy, Aquatic Therapy, Early Therapy, and Biofeedback. Vydehi is associated with California State University at Los Angeles (CSULA) to bring the latest of Rehabilitation Therapies to the Institute. Teams from CSULA have visited Vydehi for interaction with the staff. However, the real point of excellence at the Institute is its unique approach of providing physically & mentally challenged children with a playschool like ambience for rehabilitation treatment.

Vydehi AyurvedaGram uses the ancient principles of Ayurveda to discover your underlying nature (Prakriti), to create tailormade treatments designed to bring relief from various diseases & conditions. The Centre offers Panchakarma, Rejuvenation, Slimming, Stress Management etc. Vydehi is the only such medical campus in the country to offer both modern medicine and Ayurveda.

students, as well as our patients coming from diverse backgrounds. You will be surprised to know that we are equally at ease providing treatment to poor patients who utilize our completely free service, and to our corporate clients – executives from bluechips like GE, Wipro-GE, AOL, Kodak, FHPL etc.”

So, will her upcoming autobiography have a page on her experience at Vydehi? Probably, even more than a page. Because, D.K. Managing all these six institutions, which include 4 teaching Audikesavalu’s vision has given the campus an unmatched size and momentum. institutions, 2 specialised treatment centres, and of course the 1000-bedded super-speciality hospital, with clockwork precision is Maj. Gen. Anju Manchanda and her team. Says Maj. Gen. Anju, “It is challenging, but we have an honourable vision to live up to – a vision set by our Chairman D.K. Audikesavalu & our Director D.A. Kalpaja – to be of supreme value to our

S.U.T. GROUP OF HOSPITALS

“We Will Utilize Medical Tourism & Education to Expand Our Affordable Care in Super-specialities” When Dr. C. Bharath Chandran started Sree Uthradom Thirunal Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram,waybackin1987,ithadcreatedanewbenchmarkforprivatesector hospitalstofollow,becausethisUKreturnedCardiologistputtogetherthebestofbothworlds -thehigh-techmedicalworldoftheWest,withKerala’straditionalworldofcompassionate medicalcare.Overtheseyears,SUTperfectedtheiract,withunbelievableprecisionand successinmajorsurgeries,andacharitable&affordablehealthcareinitiativethatwonacclaim fromallquarters. 18yearslateralso,SouthKeralaisyettoproduceanotherhospitalinthe privatesectorthatbalancesthesetwovalues–high-technologyandaffordability-thiswell.

ButDr.Bharathandhisteamofcommittedspecialistdoctorsandnursesarenotwaitingfor the competition to catch up; instead they are shifting to overdrive with a state-of-the-art MedicalCollegeandwell-plannedinitiativesintoMedicalTourism–but,again,tofurther SUT’scorevisionofcompassionate,affordablecareinsuper-specialities.

S.U.T. GROUP OF HOSPITALS In all SUT literature and also in Dr. C Bharath Chandran’s SUT HAS THE LONGEST EXPERIENCE IN conversations, there is one phrase that immediately follows “our team of specialist doctors”. It is “…and caring nurses.” In KERALA, IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, WITH SUCH our long itinerary across South India, to assess super-speciality ADVANCED PROCEDURES LIKE CARDIAC hospitals, rarely did we come across a Medical Director, let alone a Managing Director, utter these phrases in the same SURGERY, ANGIOPLASTY, VALVULOPLASTY, breath. Most often, nurses were never mentioned at all.

DIALYSIS, AND OUTPATIENT CATARACT SURGERY WITH IOL IMPLANT. It is not only that Dr. Bharath is a caring leader, sensitive enough to give credit where it is due. He is very much that, but more than that it shows the stress he is placing on what he calls “yesteryears’ tender loving care”, in SUT’s functioning.

On the other side, it goes without saying that Super Speciality SUT Hospital – as it is called nowadays - should be credited for introducing the concept of high-tech super-speciality care to Kerala, especially in the private sector. Indeed, SUT has several firsts to its credit. SUT has the longest experience in Kerala with such advanced procedures like cardiac surgery, angioplasty, valvuloplasty, dialysis, and outpatient cataract surgery with IOL implant, - medical landmarks that were until then unknown in Kerala, or available only with a government promoted institution like Sree Chitra Institute of Medical Sciences.

But Dr. Bharath rarely takes credit for such initiatives. “My experience in the UK enabled us to be first movers in these technologies, which were tomorrow’s technologies when we went for them, but more important is the sheer passion we bring to our work. Because, technology can be gradually adopted by any hospital with money – especially by profit-oriented hospitals - but our passionate work can’t be imitated.”

There seems to be much truth in his statement. There indeed is some element of “sheer passion”. Otherwise, how can SUT’s mortality rate for elective open heart surgery (including coronary bypass surgery) be almost zero for the last eight years? Even in the USA, a mortality rate of 3% is accepted as normal! Or, how can SUT do the full spectrum of cardiac cathlab interventions like angioplasty, stenting, resynchronisation, device closure for ASD etc, and still maintain a mortality / complications rate of less than 0.5%, much better than international standards?

S.U.T. GROUP OF HOSPITALS SUT’S MORTALITY RATE FOR ELECTIVE OPEN HEART SURGERY (INCLUDING CORONARY BYPASS SURGERY) IS ALMOST ZERO FOR THE LAST EIGHT YEARS. EVEN IN THE USA, A MORTALITY RATE OF 3% IS ACCEPTED AS NORMAL! Of course, much credit for this goes to the personal expertise of cardiothoracic surgeons like Dr. S.K. Prabhu, & Dr. Usha Parvathy, Cardiologists like Dr. Bharat himself, Dr. A.C. Rao, Dr. Rajalekshmy, & Dr. Deepak Davidson, and a Vascular Interventional Radiologist like Dr. M. Balakrishnan. But more credit goes to the SUT culture of team spirit which holds this team of illustrious surgeons and physicians together in their tireless efforts of putting their patient’s interest first, always.

But, ironically, Dr. Bharath doesn’t like SUT to be known as a ‘Heart Hospital’. “We just strive to do these procedures well, much better than even dedicated Heart Hospitals. But it is unfair to think of us as a Heart Hospital. There are so many other departments, where we really excel.”

Indeed, SUT is not restricted to Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, but a true multidisciplinary super-speciality hospital with departments including Gastroenterology, Invasive

Radiology, Neonatology, Neurology & Neuro Surgery, Nephrology, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Orthopaedics, Ophthalmology, Paediatrics & Paediatric Surgery, Urology, Dermatology, Dental Surgery, ENT, General Medicine, General Surgery, Physiotherapy, Respiratory Medicine, Audiology Lab etc, and support departments like Trauma Care, Accident & Emergency, & Anaesthesia.

And all these departments are at the cutting-edge with the latest equipments, and renowned specialists – much in tune with Dr. Bharath’s vision of always opting for “tomorrow’s technologies”.

The latest Mammography equipment from Siemens for the earliest detection of breast cancer and a state-of-the-art Spiral CT Scan are only just two examples of the latest technologies that SUT has adopted.

However, “tomorrow’s technologies” and “yesteryears’ tender loving care” are not the only unlikely partners that Dr. Bharath has successfully married together. Believe it or not, here is a doctor who is moving ahead in reaching affordable (almost, charitable) healthcare to the poor rural population, and at the same time, attracting affluent foreign patients through medical tourism – both at the same pace!

Dr. Bharat had surprised everyone with his plans to start his second hospital – the SUT Rural General Hospital - at a remote rural place called Vattappara, in Thiruvananthapuram District.

Because, there was no big money to be made from such a project.

But money was never the first motivation in any of Dr. Bharath’s

S.U.T. GROUP OF HOSPITALS activities. Today, SUT Rural General Hospital is a 300-bedded institution fully equipped to provide up to secondary care, at the most affordable costs to the poor villagers in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam Districts. Set amidst a serene 25-acres campus, the hospital is also noted for its rainwater storage facility of 20 lakh litres – one of the largest in the state!

But more surprises were to follow, on the affordability front.

In November 2004, Dr. Bharath started five Speciality OP Clinics at the SUT Rural General Hospital, which started providing speciality consultations free of charge! Spanning much-in-demand specialities like General Medicine, General Surgery, Cardiology, Gynaecology, & Paediatrics, these OP Clinics charged only a nominal registration fee of Rs. 10 for one full month of specialist consultation!

Ask Dr. Bharath about these charitable initiatives, and he has the perfect way of explaining it away, “On quality we are competing with private hospitals, but on rates, we are competing with government hospitals!”

SUT’s expertise in providing affordable healthcare is something the Government itself has acknowledged. Through SUT Institute of Oncology - which stands alongside SUT Rural General Hospital - Dr. Bharath has pioneered a free and massive Cancer Awareness Campaign, which is endorsed and promoted by the State Government through its Local Administration Department.

Under this scheme, 2 to 5 volunteers from each Panchayat are trained by SUT to visit each home in their village to spread

“Our interest at SUT, in medical tourism, is that medical tourism will finally give us a means to technically update as often as we like and still charge our local patients as low as we like.” awareness about the symptoms and susceptibility to various kinds of cancer. Teams of SUT doctors then visit each village to conduct Free Cancer Detection Clinics. This pioneering scheme has won wide support and acclaim for SUT from all quarters.

Dr. Bharat had brought in none other than Padmasree Dr. M. Krishnan Nair, the renowned Cancer Specialist and Founder Director of Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) to head SUT Institute of Oncology. Equipped with advanced oncology equipments, the Institute is prepared to take head-on challenges in the field like radiation oncology, surgical oncology, chemotherapy, palliative care etc. Free Cancer Detection Clinic for the poor is also regularly being conducted at the Institute.

S.U.T. GROUP OF HOSPITALS For a doctor so immersed in affordability concerns, Dr. Bharath, remarkably, also finds time to make the Super Speciality SUT Hospital – the original hospital in the city – ready for medical tourism. SUT was the only hospital from Kerala that participated in the medical-tourism oriented Arab Medical Festival at Bahrain that showcased nearly 50 cutting-edge hospitals from across the world, including the European Union.

SUT IS STARTING ITS MEDICAL COLLEGE, HAVING ACQUIRED ALL NECESSARY CLEARANCES FOR THE SAME. THE SUT RURAL GENERAL HOSPITAL IS GOING TO BE THE MEDICAL COLLEGE HOSPITAL, WHILE PADMASREE DR. M. KRISHNAN As a doctor experienced in the West, Dr. Bharath understands NAIR WOULD BE ITS PRINCIPAL.

the scope for medical tourism, perhaps more than anyone else.

But, you should listen to his unique logic for embracing medical tourism, to better understand the person.

“I agree that with nearly 10 to 15 times our charges, and months or even years of waiting lists, Western countries like the UK will have to outsource treatments to countries like India, sooner or later. But our interest at SUT, in medical tourism, is that medical tourism will finally give us a means to technically update as often as we like and still charge our local patients as low as we like. Because, you see, balancing these two aspects is like walking a tightrope, from which we would definitely appreciate a breather. Almost all the high-tech equipments used by super speciality hospitals are imported and priced according to US or EU standards, under the false conception that hospitals here are charging patients according to Western standards. Medical tourism holds the potential to charge patients according to those standards, for the first time. It will go a long way in addressing the affordability concerns of our local patients.”

With such a vision, can anything go wrong with SUT? Not likely.

The future looks bright, not only for the SUT Team, but for all the families in Kerala, for whom SUT is the family hospital. Things can only improve. SUT is starting its Medical College, having acquired all necessary clearances for the same. The SUT Rural General Hospital is going to be the Medical College Hospital, while Padmasree Dr. M. Krishnan Nair would be its Principal. “We want to build up a strong teaching and research foundation, like the best hospital projects in the world,” explains Dr. Bharath about the need for the Medical College.

And regarding the quality of the Medical College, need we say anything? May be only this - it is going to be a thorough SUT product.

S.U.T. GROUP OF HOSPITALS “With 30 Departments & 100 Specialists, We Successfully Attend Even Patients Rejected From Other Hospitals” Dr. Bharath Chandran has reasons to be proud of his specialists – spanning over 30 departments, SUT’s team of nearly 100 specialists have made a name for the hospital by taking even high-risk cases head on.

Neurosurgeon Dr. Satish Krishnan is sad that it still takes unjustifiable time in bringing head injury patients to the hospital. “Because with timely action, there is much that a well-equipped and well-trained team of neurosurgeons, as in SUT, can do; the success rate can be so good.” Still Dr. Satish and his team of neurosurgeons do their best to save patients brought in due to serious accidents, as well as those developing conditions like stroke, and bleeding in the brain. The department works 24 hours, and has a dedicated Neuro ICU. We asked him what all can be done to minimize the risks for serious neurological conditions.

“A good lifestyle with moderate food habits, regular exercise, adequate rest, and no-smoking is the best insurance against all serious occurrences like stroke. If one is having a genetic susceptibility to stroke or suffering from conditions like hypertension, one should have regular check-ups too.” A surgeon who loves to educate people, he gave us a shock by explaining the risks of eating unwashed vegetables and leafy vegetables. “Eating without proper washing can cause collections of tapeworm larvae to reach the stomach, from where it will multiply and reach many places in the body, especially the brain. People think eating pork or beef is more risky with regard to tapeworm, but eating unwashed vegetables is the real risk, as meat will contain only tapeworms, whereas unwashed vegetables contaminated with the faeces of farm animals can contain huge collections of tapeworm larvae.”

Dr. M. Balakrishnan of the Interventional Radiology Department explained to us the cutting-edge work his team is doing in areas like peripheral angioplasty, renal artery angioplasty, tumour embolisation etc. His department is renowned for the most excellent results in these areas, among

the hospitals in Kerala. The department also has the latest equipments including MRI and Spiral CT Scan.

In June 2001, Dr. Bharath started SUT Mother & Baby Hospital by hiving off its Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Neonatology Departments into a new building in the same campus. For the expectant mother it provides state-of-the-art facilities like comprehensive outpatient services, fully air-conditioned labour rooms, relaxation therapy for delivery, full range of gynaec surgeries etc. For the newborn, SUT is the perfect place to be, especially if he or she is suffering from complications like critical illnesses or being underweight. The SUT Neonatal ICU is noted for its achievements – it has cared for babies as small as 450 gms to babies as big as 5500 gms, a total of more than 2000 babies requiring ICU care. The Department takes care of both in-born and out-born babies; the fact that SUT’s outborn neonatal ICU is always full speaks much about the care it provides vis-à-vis other hospitals. The Neonatology Department is headed by Dr. Leela Sudhakaran Kammath, who brings her vast experience in USA & Canada, to SUT. Other speciality departments at SUT include Cardiology, Cardiac Surgery, Vascular Thoracic Surgery, Gastroenterology, Oncology, Nephrology, Orthopaedics, Ophthalmology, Paediatrics, Paediatric Surgery, Urology, Dermatology, Dental Surgery, ENT, General Medicine, General Surgery, Physiotherapy, Respiratory Medicine, Audiology Lab, Psychiatry, Rheumatology, Trauma Care, Accident & Emergency, Anaesthesia, Laboratory Medicine, and Pathology Lab. Amidst all these high-tech achievements too, Dr. Bharath is not losing his focus of providing help where it is needed. Under the aegis of Dr. KN Pai Heart Foundation, SUT offers expensive procedures at considerably reduced charges to poor patients. Such measures have ensured that SUT has not only grown from the Pattom Palace where it started to the neighbouring eight-storey building. It has also grown in stature as a caring institution in the hearts of its patients.

Dr. Satish Krishnan Dr. M. Balakrishnan

S.U.T. GROUP OF HOSPITALS “We are Unique in Limb Salvage Surgery and Excel in Joint Replacements” THE ORTHOPAEDICS DEPARTMENT AT SUPER SPECIALITY SUT HOSPITAL, HEADED BY THE RENOWNED ORTHO SURGEON DR. KC GOPALAKRISHNAN HAS THE UNIQUE ACHIEVEMENT OF DOING LIMB SALVAGE SURGERY FOR BONE CANCER PATIENTS – PERHAPS THE ONLY DEPARTMENT IN KERALA DOING THIS – AS WELL AS EXCELLENT RESULTS IN JOINT REPLACEMENTS FOR RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS OF ALL AGES. Akbar Shah, a 20-year old boy, had not walked for the last four years. Stricken with an autoimmune disorder called Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, Akbar was wheelchair-bound during these four years, unable to even earn a living. Hearing about the services of Dr. KC Gopalakrishnan and his team at Super Specialty SUT Hospital, Akbar approached them. After careful analysis, the SUT team did a ‘bilateral uncemented total hip replacement’ for Akbar. Today, the youngster is walking without any aid and earns his livelihood by running a shop! The achievement is notable in that it used the latest techniques in joint replacement, which are better suited for young people, compared with the conventional joint replacement done on older patients. Dr. KC Gopalakrishnan MS (Orth), D.Orth, MCh, Orth (UK) who headed this surgery at SUT, has more than 30 years of teaching, practice, & research experience in Government Medical Colleges of Kerala, before which he was in the United Kingdom for his training and practice. Dr. Gopalakrishnan speaks to Seasonal Magazine about the SUT Orthopaedics Department and its unique achievements in Joint Replacements and Limb Salvage Surgery. g What are the range of procedures and surgeries undertaken here?

Well, we undertake all conventional Ortho procedures occurring due to trauma, as well as the latest Ortho techniques like Joint Replacements. But, more important is our work in Limb Salvage Surgery for bone cancer patients. I think SUT is the only hospital doing this in Kerala. g Can you explain what is Limb Salvage Surgery?

Many years back – while I was a student and young teacher at the Medical College – we used to think that nothing could be done for bone cancer, except amputating the affected limb i.e. hand or leg. But recent technological advances have presented a new protocol of operating the cancerous bone, removing the affected bone matter, reconstructing the bone using implants, and stopping further spread of the cancer using chemotherapy. This new protocol is what we call Limb Salvage Surgery. The advantage is that the patient gets a functional as well as cosmetically acceptable limb.

We are perhaps the only department doing this in Kerala.

We get patients from even RCC and Amrita. g What is the success rate of Limb Salvage Surgery at SUT? Earlier, if the patient got a post-operative disease-free period of 5 years, we considered it a success. But at SUT we are seeing much better results, because we do it according to the US & European standards for the procedure. I even have patients living disease-free after 10 years, and one person surviving healthily for 18 years now! g What would be the cost involved?

We can confidently say that SUT offers the most affordable package in India, in the private sector, for Limb Salvage Surgery. The SUT package consists of eight days hospital stay in a decent room with telephone, all procedure charges, all implant charges, all professional charges, all establishment charges, and all medicines including costly antibiotics – that makes ours an all inclusive option. This costs only Rs. 40,000. In

Dr. KC Gopalakrishnan

S.U.T. GROUP OF HOSPITALS contrast, when people used to go to Chennai earlier, it was costing over Rs. 2 lakhs. And if it is Chennai, you have to have two or three people with the patient, further increasing the costs. g Are the implants for this procedure available in India?

Yes, nowadays implants are available in India, comparable in quality to imported ones, which have helped us to reduce costs. g The SUT Ortho Team has an impressive track-record in Joint Replacements. Can you explain the achievements?

Well, we were pioneers in Joint Replacement. But, more than that, nearly 50% of the joint replacements done at SUT are reworks – that is correcting and perfecting what has been done imperfectly at many other hospitals. We have become famous for this – we are a sort of last resort in joint replacement! Another advantage with SUT is that we embrace the latest technologies in joint replacements, making us perhaps the first hospital to be considered if someone is planning joint replacement. g What are these latest technologies in joint replacement?

You see, joint replacement consists of mainly knee replacements, then hip replacements, and rarely elbow replacements. The natural joint which has become painful or less mobile, is replaced with an artificial joint, which will work smoothly for 10 years, after which a revision surgery would be needed. Conventionally, it used to be prescribed for those with old-age-related rheumatoid arthritis, mainly in the age group of 60-plus. The idea was to utilize their natural joint to the maximum possible time, then replace it with an artificial joint in their advanced years, so that a revision surgery won’t be necessary in most of the cases. Because, results of the revision surgery can’t be as good as the first one. However, technological advances have made joint replacements last much more than 10 years. For example, I have patients who have passed 15 years and even 20 years after a joint replacement. This has enabled us to consider joint replacement in much younger patients, maybe in their 50s and 40s. But, more exciting is the new technologies that help patients in their 30s, 20s, or even teenage! g How are young patients helped by the new technology?

Conventional joint replacement is a ‘cemented’ technology.

The usage of ‘cement’ requires removal of significant bone matter, and the cement while setting causes bone necrosis, contributing to further bone loss. The problem with this method is that a further revision becomes difficult or less effective – the reason why young people were never good

“WE CAN CONFIDENTLY SAY THAT SUT OFFERS THE MOST AFFORDABLE PACKAGE IN INDIA, IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, FOR LIMB SALVAGE SURGERY.” candidates for conventional joint replacement. The new uncemented technology, which requires no cement, does away with all these complications. Young patients can confidently go in for this new procedure with the knowledge that further revisions are very much possible. Another new technique – called surface replacement – suitable for youngsters, involves replacing only the bearing as against the whole joint, which conserves the bone for a later conventional joint replacement, if needed. g What is the success rate for joint replacements in SUT? We enjoy a 100% success rate, even better than in the West.

Also, we have a 0% infection rate, which speaks about the high standards SUT is maintaining in surgical care. g How much would joint replacements cost?

At SUT, we provide the most affordable rates for all joint replacements. Nearly 65% of the joint replacements we do are knee replacements, the remaining 30% hip replacements, and maybe a few elbow replacements. Hip replacement is the most costly of these procedures, amounting to around Rs. 1.5 lakhs. But, we have also done joint replacements at our SUT Rural General Hospital at charitable rates. In contrast, in a developed country like the UK, a hip replacement at a private hospital can cost not less than 15,000 pounds i.e. nearly Rs. 12 lakhs, which is about 10 times what we charge! g So, there seems to be immense scope for medical tourism in orthopaedics…

Yes, of course. SUT is moving ahead full steam in this regard.

The waiting list in England is so horrible that even if it is a backache that you want to show to a specialist, you will have to wait 3 or 4 months! And with the kinds of rates we charge, we can even bundle a holiday package for the medical tourists, and still be competitive in rates. Foreign patients are very concerned about protection of their legal rights if at all anything unexpected happens, but with our kind of exposure, and a little bit of liaisoning, I think SUT will be far ahead when medical tourism actually happens in volumes. .

M.E.S. MEDICAL COLLEGE “Like How Great Hospitals are Built – Free Healthcare, Committed Doctors, Medical Education, and More…”

Dr. P.A. Fazal Ghafoor, noted Neurologist and General Secretary of Muslim Educational Society (MES), is following a different vision to take the young MES Medical College to a healthcare institution of national repute. His vision might seem old-fashioned for the cutthroat competition prevailing among today’s corporate hospitals, but there is no dispute that this vision is how great hospitals used to be built – by providing free healthcare to all, by employing committed doctors, and by focussing on medical education.

That Dr. Fazal’s foresight is working out is evident from two facts – the backing of a high-profile leader like M.A. Yousaf Ali, and how the MES students have turned the tables over students from older, well-established colleges.

Dr. P.A. Fazal Ghafoor, Director

Here there are no outpatient charges. No inpatient charges.

No bed charges. No surgery charges. And within the 3 years since its inception, MES Medical College has done over 10,000 surgeries for free. And it is still doing free surgeries everyday. You will almost think that you are at a Christian Missionary Hospital of the last century. But, you are at a sprawling modern hospital of today, albeit located at Perinthalmanna, a remote place in Malappuram, one of Kerala’s underdeveloped districts.

Let not the free service also dupe you into believing that MES Medical College is a small general hospital. The impressive 500-bedded hospital offers super-specialities like Nephrology, Oncology, Neurology, Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, & Cardiology, as well as specialities like Orthopaedics, Physiotherapy, Ophthalmology, ENT, Dermatology, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, TB & Chest Diseases, Dental, Paediatrics, Psychiatry, & Community Medicine. The infrastructure too is massive, with 8 major

operation theatres, 2 minor operation theatres, 3 ICUs medical, surgical, & neonatal, a dialysis unit with 3 beds, a 24-hours blood bank, and a modern multi-disciplinary central lab!

But like all new self-financing institutions, MES Medical College too might have to face the moral attack by Kerala’s self-appointed ‘intellectuals’, for bringing out allegedly ‘inferior medical graduates’. But Dr. Fazal’s students shut such critics’ mouths by outperforming students from wellestablished institutions like Kozhikode Medical College and Thrissur Medical College in the University Examinations for 1st Year MBBS! That is the care with which Dr. Fazal and his team is nurturing MES Medical College and its students. Dr. P.A. Fazal Ghafoor, MD, DM (Neurology), is the son of the legendary doctor & leader Dr. P.K. Abdul Ghafoor, who co-founded Muslim

M.E.S. MEDICAL COLLEGE Educational Society (MES) in 1964, with a group of highly educated and socially committed Muslim leaders from various walks of life. Today, MES is the largest Muslim charitable organization in the country running numerous schools, colleges, vocational training centres, hospitals, hostels, orphanages etc. The group is credited with numerous firsts, like the first CBSE School in the State (MES Raja Residential School) and the first self-financing engineering college in the State (MES College of Engineering).

as bad because being a backward community, at least one minority Muslim medical college was necessary. That is how MES decided to take up the challenge. Though MES was already running a few hospitals, according to the Indian Medical Council (IMC) specifications, a new medical college needed 300 beds and 25 acres of campus.

It meant that we should start a new hospital, and Perinthalmanna being an especially remote and backward area without any medical facilities, was selected.

g But, that is not how MES Medical College got most medical colleges a shot in its arm when Dr. selected their location…

Fazal got the support of Very true. All are in cities, high-profile NRI investor or at least reasonable M.A. Yousaf Ali, founder of towns. But, they didn’t the EMKE Group based in have much option too. All the Middle East. EMKE of them were running big operates in numerous hospitals for decades, countries spanning Africa, when they got the sanction Middle East, South Asia, & for a medical college. We Mr. M.A. Yousaf Ali, Chairman the Far East, and employs had to first build a 30012,000 people comprising of 27 different nationalities, out bedded hospital in 25 acres, before we could start a of which over 8000 are Indians. Yousaf Ali distinguishes medical college. But, it also presented us options – we himself from other investors, due to his proven commitment could either build it in any city or in some remote place to Kerala’s development concerns – a passion that has seen like this. MES being a non profit making body working him placed in the Director Boards of prestigious public for social upliftment of backward communities, we sector organizations like, CIAL, KSIDC, KITCO, NRK decided to dedicate the hospital to a suitable remote place Affairs Committee, Roots NRK Development Initiative etc. which didn’t have such a big hospital. We also had the “His expertise in giving the right vision to cutting-edge option of going in for the bare minimum setup or use this institutions is well-known, and MES Medical College is challenge to lay the proper foundation for something proud to have him as our Chairman,” says Dr. Fazal. world-class. That is how we decided to go for 500 beds, all the specialities, and 6 major super-specialities.

Dr. Fazal is today the General Secretary of MES, and the Director of MES Medical College, activities that take much g Why is the hospital entirely free? of his time. Yet he found time amidst his busy schedule of We at MES believe that a hospital should first serve its teaching, practicing, and managing, to answer our queries immediate community, i.e. the community around it. No on MES Medical College, and the healthcare & healthcare financial considerations education scenarios in the country, especially Kerala. A warm yet outspoken person, Dr. Fazal minces no words regarding the hypocrisies of the various influential sections of the Kerala society, especially the political left & right, that is preventing true development. g Why did MES start this medical college, and why was Perinthalmanna selected?

In 2001, when the then AK Antony Government decided to allow self-financing colleges, there were many takers for medical colleges from the Christian and Hindu Communities, but not from the Muslim Community. At MES, we thought this

M.E.S. MEDICAL COLLEGE should affect its service, because healthcare is such a thing – the only real emergency help a human needs.

And that is how all great hospitals used to be built. Around us, what we found was a financially weak community, many of them living even below the poverty line. So, we thought, well, why don’t we run the hospital for free?

impractical, we might also start charging, but only for such specialist work. Much will depend on whether IMC will allow us to triple our MBBS seats, from the current 50, to 150. It will also allow us to reduce the MBBS fee from the current Rs. 4 lakhs.

g How is it possible? What is the connection? g But, how is such a thing – running A medical college has many fixed a hospital for free - possible? costs. For example, our salary bill is A general hospital maybe not, but a Rs. 4 crores! It is very important that Dr. C. Sadasivan Pillai, Principal self-financing medical college a project like this utilize its spend in hospital definitely can be run this way. But one shouldn’t the mot productive way. That is why we consider that the have any profit motive at all. Here, at MES, none of us current allowed intake of 50 students is so low. We have have to take a profit home. If you have adequate capital, the facilities to take in 150 students a year. And like all and not planning to compensate your capital with the great medical colleges, we have 100% additional staff. student fees, you can provide this free service to the public. The current fee stays at Rs. 4 lakhs per year only because Here, we don’t charge for outpatient, inpatient, bed, IMC allows only 50 seats. If just the double, 100 seats are surgery, nothing. Only the medicines and consumables if allowed, this fee per student can be brought down to half any should be paid by the patient. i.e. Rs. 2 lakhs per year! g But isn’t that bad economics? Aren’t you losing out on profit?

We are losing out on profit, but this is not necessarily bad economics. Anyway, we have to have 300 beds in the general ward itself, and not in the pay-wards or rooms, as per the IMC specifications. Again, for a project our size – Rs. 100 to Rs. 150 crores investment – what profit is there to be gained from providing basic healthcare? But to the needy patient, a Rs. 5000 surgery or a Rs. 2000 delivery is everything. You will be surprised to know that just within these 3 years of our inception, we have done more than 10,000 surgeries for free. Each one of it could have fetched us Rs. 5000 or Rs. 3000. Can you imagine the scale of our free service?

g But some intellectuals are advising against increasing seats in the state’s medical colleges…

Who are these intellectuals? Communists, basically. How can we listen to their theories when they are so wedded to specific ideologies or isms? They have much to gain from promoting their ideology, while we have only our work to show. Isn’t it funny that Communist Russia and Communist China were running after our students for their expensive medical colleges, all these years, while our comrades here were preventing self-financing colleges from appearing due to their ‘commitment to Communist ideals’? Even funnier was to know that children of top Marxist leaders in Kerala are studying in self-financing colleges outside the state.

g Yes, this is something very remarkable. But what about the time when you go in for a predominantly multi-super-speciality referral kind of setup in a big way?

That is true - all the big money is in the super-specialities.

As of now, we have all the specialities needed for a medical college, and six major super-specialities. We will try to move into a primarily multi-super-speciality referral mode by keeping the free service. But, if it proves to be

g That is hypocrisy, but the allegation is that Kerala is surplus in doctors…

If Kerala is surplus in doctors, why are all our medical colleges overflowing with students, and still more opting to study outside or even abroad? For the simple reason that the world is the stage for Keralite doctors. Is there any rule like a Keralite doctor should only practice in Kerala? Tens of thousands of them have made successful careers in the Middle East, Europe, and North America, and contributed to the flow of money to Kerala. It is hypocrisy of the first order to enjoy living in this ‘Demand Draft Economy’ of Kerala with its GDP’s 60% reliance on Gulf money, and point accusing fingers at self-financing medical colleges. g Another allegation is that self-financing medical colleges would bring down the standard of medical education?

It is again made by some Communist intellectuals who had long dictated terms regarding the medical education

M.E.S. MEDICAL COLLEGE in the state. We have only one thing to say to them – you can’t have monopoly over merit, and if you continue like this, we see strains of Hitlerian Eugenics in you! Selection doesn’t start at the race level, and according to most progressive thinkers, not even at the merit level. Merit can be such a relative thing. We have serious reservations about the Medical Entrance itself, which favours the rich and the repeaters. You cannot say a particular student can’t study Medicine just because he or she didn’t score as well as some others in a particular exam. And on what scientific basis was the number of seats fixed in our medical colleges, all these years? g Can you explain it further?

Yes. In 1971, there were 600 seats in all the four medical colleges taken together. During the next 30 years, only 200 seats were added to this pool! And all these years, those who couldn’t qualify for these 800 seats, were considered as ‘poor students’, whereas in reality they were excellent students! What justification exists for such idiocies? And all these three decades, students and huge money kept flowing out of the state, making Karnataka and Tamilnadu richer. Our successive State Governments stood paralysed, expressing their inability to fund further medical colleges. That is understandable, but what justification was there to vehemently oppose self-financing medical colleges, until 2001? That the standards would go down? That is absurd. We proved it. g That is interesting…

Yes. In the 1st year MBBS exam, our students bagged all the three ranks – the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd. And out of the 14 distinctions, 7 were taken by our students. I am speaking about a University exam in which our students competed with students of ‘higher-merit’ from reputed institutions like Kozhikode Medical College and Thrissur Medical College. And over 80% of our students belong to backward communities! So, this idea that self-financing medical colleges can’t produce quality medical graduates is absurd.

50% of our seats are occupied by merit candidates, and the majority of the remaining 50% of candidates are also of reasonable calibre who can be systematically educated to become top-notch doctors. As a postgraduate medical doctor and neurologist, I can vouch for it. g What are your plans for the future?

We have already started a Nursing College and Nursing School. This coming year, we will start the Dental and Pharmacy Colleges. All of them will be in this same campus. By the next 4 to 5 years, we plan to have all the paramedical courses started.

After that we will go in for Postgraduation in Medicine. The hospital will also reflect corresponding changes, to become a hightech multi-super-speciality referral hospital of national repute. Already, 100 private ward beds are coming up.

Dr. Fazal has brought together a big team of committed specialist doctors to MES. Most of them have considerable experience outside Kerala, many of them coming from reputed institutions in North India, and even abroad. The MES Principal, Dr. C. Sadasivan Pillai [MD, DPH, PGDIM, PGDHRM], is a former Principal of Kozhikode Medical College and a former Medical Education Director.

He brings with him extensive experience from one of the biggest of medical education setups in Kerala. Deputy Medical Superintendent Dr. N.M. Mujeeb Rahman [MS]

Dr. N.M. Mujeeb Rahman Dy. Med. Supdt.

Mr. Vijayanand Hospital Administrator

brings young energy & enthusiasm to the college & hospital. The Hospital Chief Administrator Vijayanand [MBA, MS, MPhil (HHSM), PGDMLE] was formerly working with Christian Medical College, Vellore, and has been handpicked by Dr. Fazal to help him administer the hospital according to exacting standards.

“We are putting our best efforts, time, and money into this project. We will build it up rapidly but systematically, like how all great hospitals are built – by offering free healthcare, by attracting committed doctors, by focusing on medical education, and all such genuine strategies.”

And you can believe Dr. Fazal when he says this. MES has until now invested a whopping Rs. 1000 crores in Kerala. And to make even the sceptics believe, Dr. Fazal has chosen MES Medical College for his son’s MBBS course!

AMRITA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES

Setting New Benchmarks in Medical Expertise & Compassionate Care Starting 1998, the hospital scenario in Kerala changed forever. Those who were giants till then, began to get dwarfed, while those who attempted to put up a semblance of competition still, had a new benchmark to meet. Because, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) with its plans for 9 lakh sq. ft. floor area & 800 beds, was beginning to redefine private sector healthcare services in Kerala with its sheer scale of operation and its ability to deliver world-class expertise across its 50 departments and specialities. It was an accomplishment practically no non-governmental organization in India, let alone Kerala, could attempt. Indeed, it was a feat fit for only Mata Amritanandamayi - spiritual leader, social reformer, & philanthropist extraordinaire - the Amma who has physically embraced & consoled 24 million people in her unbelievable life!

AMRITA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES Hospitals often speak about their number of doctors, nurses, & support staff. But Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) can also speak about something else – its number of volunteers. Like all institutions managed by Mata Amritanandamayi Math, AIMS too has the rock-solid support of Amma’s followers. More than 500 such volunteers work at AIMS! Now, those who are not very familiar with Mata Amritanandamayi Math and its activities, will start wondering what kind of a leader can inspire people to work for free? But those who are very familiar with Amma will find no miracle in these 500 volunteers working at AIMS. Because, they have seen bigger miracles.

the Tsunami struck, Amma’s Ashram pledged a whopping Rs. 100 crores for the rebuilding & rehabilitation work, eclipsing smaller contributions from bigger organizations! Even more importantly, within the first 3 months of the Tsunami, more than 20,000 volunteers from Amma’s various institutions, including Western groups & AIMS, had chipped in with personal work!

Truly, Amma operates at a scale & pace that many governments will find difficult to follow, a fact that has brought her international acclaim from none other than United Nations’ Forums and the Parliament of World’s Religions.

Though Amma is a spiritual leader first, Under Amma’s vision, the Math’s Amrita she is known to handpick leaders of high Kuteeram Project has constructed more calibre and devotion to head the Math’s than 25,000 houses for India’s poor various initiatives, and AIMS is no people in states like Kerala, Tamilnadu, exception. This selection has started long Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, back from such devoted disciples like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, & Swami Amritaswaroopananda Puri who Swami Amritaswaroopananda Puri, West Bengal – often in response to has brought immense professionalism & Chairman of Amritapuri and President of AIMS invitations from the respective state enthusiasm into the Math’s activities, and governments! And Amma has pledged another 1 lakh free houses for is currently the Chairman of Amritapuri and the President of AIMS. It the poor across India. Amrita Nidhi, the Math’s revolutionary free extends to key professionals like Dr. Prem Nair, who, inspired by Amma, pension scheme for 50,000 widows & destitute women is active across forsake his highly successful career as a specialist medical doctor of the country. Amritapuri, Amma’s main Ashram at Kollam in Kerala, repute in USA, to head AIMS as its Medical Director. Dr. Prem Nair and its various branch centres across the nation provide free food to was earlier Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology Specialist with more than 50,000 people every month. And if you think Amma inspires University of California, at Los Angeles. Mr. Ron Gottsegen, India alone, consider this – volunteers in USA provide 40,000 meals a year for the homeless through a program called Mother’s Kitchen. When

AIMS IS ORGANIZED AROUND 4 DEDICATED CENTRES FOR 4 CORE SUPER-SPECIALITIES – CANCER INSTITUTE, DIGESTIVE DISEASES INSTITUTE, NEUROSCIENCES INSTITUTE, & HEART INSTITUTE, WITH THE REST OF THE SPECIALITIES

&

SUPER-

SPECIALITIES ORGANIZED AS SEPARATE DEPARTMENTS. 71 SEASONAL 2006

AMRITA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES Administrative Director at AIMS has contributed much to the professionalism seen throughout the AIMS campus.

Mr. Sudhakar Jayaram, General Manager – Administration, at AIMS, was formerly with Infosys, and left a successful career in San Francisco to join Amma’s activities. Mr. Sudhakar Jayaram is also heading Amrita TV, a group initiative. Other noted leaders at AIMS include Dean Dr. D.M. Vasudevan and Dr. A.K.K. Unni, Chairman of its Research Division.

AMMA IS KNOWN TO HANDPICK LEADERS OF HIGH CALIBRE AND DEVOTION TO HEAD THE MATH’S VARIOUS INITIATIVES, AND AIMS IS NO EXCEPTION. AMRITAPURI CHAIRMAN SWAMI AMRITASWAROOPANANDA PURI IS THE PRESIDENT OF AIMS, DR. PREM NAIR ITS MEDICAL DIRECTOR, MR. RON GOTTSEGEN ITS ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR, AND MR. SUDHAKAR JAYARAM ITS GENERAL MANAGER – ADMINISTRATION.

When many other hospitals speak about charity, they almost always mean providing some sort of discount to people with no money for their procedures. But AIMS is also speaking about Outreach Programs Dr. Prem Nair, Medical Director that have seen teams of AIMS physicians, surgeons, nurses, support staff, & volunteers, crisscrossing the country when disaster struck in the form of Gujarat Earthquake and the Tsunami. bedded Teaching Hospital Complex. A fully computerised and networked Hospital Information System ensures that Only an extraordinarily equipped hospital in terms of the level of overall service is truly world-class. infrastructure, manpower, vision, & team spirit can deliver The hospital is organized around 4 dedicated centres for 4 such services on an ad hoc basis. The AIMS of today is a core super-specialities – Cancer Institute, Digestive massive 80-acres campus, including an 800-bedded multi- Diseases Institute, Neurosciences Institute, & Heart super-speciality hospital, a Medical College, and a 400- Institute, with the rest of the specialities & superspecialities organized as separate Departments.

The Cancer Institute at AIMS is perhaps the most advanced in the state. The Digestive Diseases Institute includes super-specialities like Gastroenterology / Hepatology and GastroIntestinal Surgery. The Neurosciences Institute includes Neurology and Neurosurgery, while the Heart Institute includes superspecialities like Adult Cardiology, Paediatric Cardiology, Adult Cardiovascular Surgery, and Paediatric CV Surgery.

Without doubt, these 4 dedicated centres have brought the greatest acclaim for AIMS.

AMRITA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES The other super-speciality departments at AIMS include areas of rare competence like Organ Transplantation, Toxicology, Vascular Surgery, Endocrinology, Metabolic Disorders, Nuclear Medicine, Head & Neck Surgery, Infectious Diseases, Pain & Palliative Care, Pharmacovigilance, Radiology, Geriatrics, Paediatric Surgery, Neonatology etc.

THEOUTREACHPROGRAMSOFAIMS HAVE SEEN TEAMS OF AIMS PHYSICIANS,SURGEONS,NURSES, SUPPORT STAFF, & VOLUNTEERS, CRISSCROSSINGTHECOUNTRYWHEN DISASTERSTRUCKINTHEFORMOF GUJARAT EARTHQUAKEAND THE TSUNAMI.

All the more common specialities like Dermatology, ENT, Sudhakar Jayaram, Chief General Manager, Nephrology, Urology, Internal Amrita Enterprises Private Limited (AEPL) Medicine, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, Paediatrics, Pulmonary Medicine etc are also functioning at AIMS. AIMS is perhaps the only such hospital in Kerala with a Support Departments include Anaesthesiology, Molecular dedicated Department of Information Technology. The Biology, & Laboratory Medicine. network supports 900 computers through which AIMS has computerised nearly every aspect of patient-care including The infrastructure for the departments of radiology and all patient information, lab testing, & radiological imaging laboratory require special mention since their cutting-edge – like how the best hospitals in the West do. facilities have made them referral centres of repute, across the state. While the Clinical Laboratory is state-of-the-art, AIMS is also renowned for their Medical Education the Department of Radiology has a fully digital infrastructure that includes a School of Medicine, School infrastructure. of Nursing, School of Dentistry, and a School of Pharmacy.

AIMS also conducts CME Programmes. Amrita Nano The stress AIMS is placing on high-tech areas like research Biomedical Engineering Centre is also another AIMS and telemedicine is evident from the formation of separate initiative in education. departments for them – Department of Telemedicine and Department of Research Co-ordination.

Manning the whole show is the dedicated AIMS team which comprises of 340 faculty, 100 administrators, 2500 support staff, and of course, the 500 volunteers! .

MALABAR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES “World-class Specialists, Facilities, & Cleanliness, For a World-class Experience”

Malabar Institute of Medical

Malabar’s famous physician, Dr.

Sciences (MIMS), at Kozhikode,

Abdulla Cherayakkat, MIMS has

Kerala, was set up to bring

however emerged as a preferred

international quality healthcare

health destination not only for

to the state, at affordable costs.

Keralites, but to people from

The vision of a group of

Dr. Azad Moopen

neighbouring states and NRIs,

dedicated persons led by Middle East’s noted

with its over 300 beds, nearly 35 specialities,

medical facilitator, Dr. Azad Moopen, and

and over 100 fulltime specialist doctors.

MALABAR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES Establishing a chain of hospitals and clinics in the Middle East is no small achievement for a Keralite doctor. But, Dr. Azad Moopen, has always been a winner. A Gold Medallist in Medicine from the Kozhikode Medical College, Dr. Moopen was also an efficient organizer from his youth days onwards, a fact evident from his leadership among Medical College Students of Kerala, as its association’s State Convener during 1976. Dr. Moopen went on to establish a thriving practice in UAE, and later forayed into setting up a string of highly acclaimed hospitals & clinics, spread over the Emirates. No wonder then, when he started MIMS in 2002, he could bring together a large fraternity of specialists around him – some his peers, some even his teachers!

Today, MIMS is one of the largest multi-super-speciality hospitals in the corporate sector in Kerala. Dr. Azad Moopen is the Chairman, and Dr. Abdulla Cherayakkat is the Managing Director of this ISO 9002 certified tertiary care hospital. While starting MIMS, the group led by these two visionaries had three objectives. First, to provide international quality healthcare at affordable costs.

Secondly, to reverse the brain drain that has been happening in Kerala’s healthcare sector for decades. MIMS was designed as a centre where eminent Keralite doctors practicing in the West and the Middle East could return.

Finally, being a public limited company and corporate hospital, providing a decent return to investors so that the project is economically feasible, was the third objective.

The mission statement of MIMS is “A Caring Mission, A Global Vision”. It is practised in the entire organization spanning 35 specialities and 300 beds. It will also be the guidepost when MIMS completes its second phase of another 200 beds by about a year.

MIMS has 86 beds dedicated for its fully equipped Intensive Care Units, with its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit having 11 beds. The speciality and super-speciality departments at MIMS include General Medicine, Critical Care, Cardiology, Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery, Cardiac Anaesthesiology, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Endocrinology & Diabetics, Nephrology, Pulmonology & Asthma, Gastroenterology, General Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Urology, ENT, Dermatology/Cosmetology/Hair Clinic, Ophthalmology, Gastro Intestinal Surgery, Plastic/ Reconstructive/Micro-vascular Surgery, Rheumatology, Gynaecology & Infertility Clinic, Paediatrics, Neonatology, Paediatric Surgery, Dental Surgery, Radiology & Imaging Sciences, Nuclear Medicine, Anaesthesiology, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Psychiatry, and Pathology.

But the real speciality at MIMS is that there is a high-level of interaction and integration between the various departments, thus being capable of putting the welfare of patients first, always.

For example, the Nuclear Medicine Department at MIMS provides

MALABAR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES integrated support to other departments like Cardiology, Gastroenterology, & Orthopaedics.

Nuclear Medicine is a new medical speciality that uses safe, painless and cost-effective techniques to image the functions of various organs and thus treat diseases effectively. Nuclear medicine imaging is unique in that it demonstrates organ function and structure at the same time, in contrast to diagnostic radiology, which is based upon structural anatomy. Nuclear medicine imaging procedures help to identify abnormalities very early in the progression of the disease, long before some medical problems are apparent with conventional diagnostic tests. This is based on the fact that the functional changes appear much before the structural changes in the evolution of organ dysfunction. The Nuclear Medicine Department at MIMS provides state-of-the-art radio isotope procedures with high quality control. The latest equipments at the department include sophisticated gamma camera with HD4 total digital detectors for superior quality images and advanced E-Soft software. The Department also runs a modern Thyroid Clinic equipped with Digital Thyroid Uptake System for diagnosis and treatment of various thyroid disorders, which are nowadays very common.

The Departments of Cardiology, Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery, & Cardiac Anaesthesiology are grouped and

structured under an integrated centre – The MIMS Institute of Cardiac Sciences. This is one of the few centres in Asia where Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery is performed on beating heart, without Heart Lung Machine, with less than 0.5% mortality!

Within a short span of 40 months, the Centre has undertaken 1000 Open Heart Surgeries, with a success rate that is even better than the international standards.

The MIMS Institute of Cardiac Sciences is today a tertiary care centre that has all specialised divisions like non-invasive cardiology, invasive cardiology, cardiothoracic & vascular surgery, cardiac anaesthesiology, intensive care, cardiac rehabilitation, and perfusion technology.

The Centre is one of the few centres in North Kerala performing Primary Angioplasty (for acute heart attack), and Rescue Angioplasty (for failed thrombolysis), round-the-clock.

Cardiology services on offer include non-invasive investigations like trans-thoracic & trans-esophageal echocardiography, and treadmill testing, routine diagnostic invasive procedures like angiography and catheterization studies, coronary & peripheral angioplasty with stenting, and balloon valvuloplasty. Device and coil closure of PDA and device closure of ASD are being performed on patients of all ages. The Electrophysiological Department at the Centre performs routine Electro Physiology (EP) studies, Radio

MALABAR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES MALABAR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES

Frequency Ablation (RFA), & Head Up Tilt Testing (HUTT).

Implants and Pacing Therapies include Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (AICD) implantation for the prevention of cardiac arrest, Biventricular Pacing Therapy for heart failure, and routine temporary and permanent pacemaker implantation.

Medicine Department, two fully equipped Cardiac Operation Theatres with even videoconferencing facilities, and instruments including the latest Intra Aortic Balloon Pump (IABP). The Cardiac Surgery ICU is 15 bedded, and has 8 channel monitors including continuous cardiac output monitoring and ventilator facilities.

The MIMS Institute of Cardiac Sciences is also fully equipped t o

Human expertise is also equally important in this field, and MIMS Institute of Cardiac Sciences score big with their strong team of highly experienced and fulltime Senior Cardiac Surgeons, Cardiac Anaesthesiologists, Senior Interventional Cardiologists, Perfusionists, and Cardiac Rehabilitation staff.

undertake the full range of Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgeries.

Apart from the routine or emergency Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery (CABG), special procedures like valve replacement surgeries, combined valve & bypass surgery, surgeries for congenital heart defects, like ASD, VSD, & TOF are also undertaken here. Thoracic surgeries done here include lung and mediastinal surgeries, while vascular surgeries include aortobifemoral bypass, femoro-femoral bypass, femoro-popliteal bypass, and vascular surgery combined with CABG are performed with excellent results. The Centre is also starting Paediatric Cardiac Surgeries from the next month onwards.

The MIMS Institute of Cardiac Sciences owes its amazing success to the vision of its founders which brought together the best of equipment and the best of expertise.

The Centre has a state-of-the-art Digital Cardiac Catheterization Lab, advanced Gamma Camera, support by the MIMS Nuclear

The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery excels in Joint Replacements like Knee & Hip Replacements, thanks to its orthopaedic surgeons of international repute and usage of the highest quality imported implants. MIMS being a tertiary trauma-care centre, the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is also fully equipped to undertake advanced fracture instrumentations. Also undertaken are rare procedures like spine surgery, arthroscopy & reconstructive surgery, anterior transabdominal & transthoracic procedures, paediatric orthopaedics, hand surgery, & comprehensive care for arthritis. Spine Surgery at MIMS includes such high-tech procedures like Pedicle Screw Fixation and Interbody Fusion. A regular Backache Clinic is also functioning at MIMS. The Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences provides comprehensive radiology services including diagnostic as well as interventional procedures. Equipped with Sub Second Helical CT Scanner with advanced image processing capabilities, procedures like CT Angiography, Virtual Endoscopy, & 3D Volume Rendering

MALABAR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES are possible at MIMS. Interventional Radiology Division offers the full range of procedures including the newer minimally invasive treatments. Soon to be added facilities include Open MRI, Mammography, & 4D Ultrasonography.

The Gastroenterology Department at MIMS has won acclaim as one of the best centres for evaluation and management of Gastrointestinal bleeds. The dedicated team of endoscopists, gastrointestinal surgeons, & interventional radiologists provide round-the-clock service to patients. Endoscopic management of bile duct stones and pancreatic diseases like Chronic Pancreatitis and Pseudocysts are routinely undertaken.

Malignancies of pancreas by stent replacement and palliative treatment of esophageal cancers are also offered. The Department is also active in gastroenterology research with significant efforts being taken to better understand and manage Ulcer Bleeds, Recurrent Pyogenic Cholangitis, & Crohn’s Disease.

MIMS also has a comprehensive Gynaecology & Infertility Department that offers Laparoscopic Surgeries, Pain Reduced Labour, and an Infertility Clinic in association with the Centre for Research in Assisted Reproduction & Foetal Therapy (CRAFT). All diagnostic & operative endoscopic procedures like Hysteroscopy & Laparoscopy procedures are done here, while Laparoscopic Hysterectomy is offered at an affordable cost. The option of Epidural Injection to reduce labour pain is offered, at safety standards as prevalent in the West.

The MIMS Management understands the importance of creating a strong academic base to take the hospital to greater heights, and the establishment of the MIMS Academy is proof for their

MALABAR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES vision. Headed by the renowned surgeon and medical teacher par excellence Prof. (Dr.) K.K. Varma, as the Director, and having a Governing Council consisting of eminent healthcare professionals & academicians, the MIMS Academy has a medical education vision that includes various research activities and eventually a medical college. The Academy has acquired 33 acres of land near Kozhikode and the work of setting up a modern academic campus is underway. Already, the MIMS Academy conducts many medical & paramedical courses like DNB, BSc Nursing, General Nursing & Midwifery, and Diploma in Laboratory Technology. The Academy is also actively engaged in various research activities.

From its very beginning onwards, MIMS has been trying to merge two diverse worlds – the world of high-tech healthcare, and Kerala’s, especially Malabar’s, ground realities. That they have succeeded in both, is evident from just two developments – its growing list of corporate clients, and its remarkable penetration into lower middleclass and even poor patients. Today, it has over 25 noted corporate clients – belonging to both private & public sector – most of them bluechips like HDFC, Air India, & Tata Motors, and arrangements with 6 leading TPAs for treating medically insured patients. At the same time, under the aegis of MIMS Charitable Trust, the group has pledged more than Rs. 50 lakhs for helping poor patients, a figure which is still expected to grow, taking into consideration the stress MIMS is placing on its programs like ‘Sponsor a Heart’.

And between these two extremes – medically insured corporate citizens to the poorest of the poor – lies the real clientele of MIMS. The middleclass to upper-middleclass patients who can avail of the graded rates offered by MIMS according to their needs for comfort and budget. Of course, it goes without saying that the remaining segment of the population – the upperclass – finds the superior features of MIMS as naturally attractive. .

MALABAR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES