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Sunday, 2 June 2002 |
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Medical excellence with a human touch by Carol Aloysius
The silver arc shaped sign board with the words Apollo Hospitals is the first thing that strikes your eyes. It gleams like a beacon of hope to patients entering this brand new hospital complex at Narahenpitiya, and catches your attention as you weave your way through mounds of sand, rocks, and tractors of a massive road building project in the vicinity. Enter through the tall gates and you see dozens of painters busy giving the final touches to the multi-storeyed building that resembles a plush shopping plaza both outside and inside, rather than a hospital. Step inside and you are greeted by a doorman wearing a feather in his hat who waves you past a group of security guards (note-no body searches or peers into your handbag) and directs you to a friendly reception desk which is all smiles when you tell them you are from the press. sheer elegance The foyer literally takes your breath away for sheer elegance and sophistication. The walls are lined with paintings mostly of storks - as a special concession to pregnant patients, we are told by an obliging lady who takes charge. The entire area is lit up by natural lighting from the sunlight that filters through the high transparent and dome shaped roof. Colourful settees and chairs scattered around together with the exquisite paintings, make it look more like an elegant hotel lounge than a waiting room for patients in a hospital.
We are escorted by a friendly female doctor who takes us to meet some of the men behind this new concept in medical care, Dr. Rana Mehta, General Manager, Operations, and Mr. Chandra B. Shukla, Executive Director and CAO. No protocol here. Our appointment had been made just one hour ago on the phone via Mr. Thamby Navaratnam, vice chairman and here we were poised for an interview without fuss or waiting. "The press is always welcome since we need their help to carry our message of Medical Care with a human touch 'to the whole of Sri Lanka, says Mr. Shukla who briefly outlines the history of the Apollo Hospitals. It had all begun when Dr. Prahap Reddy, a cardiologist and the present chairman of the Apollo group, had returned to his native land of India after a long stint of work in the US and discovered that affordable medical care at tertiary level was still a distant dream for his fellow countrymen. So he decided to make that dream come true. The first Apollo hospital was set up in the early 70s and was followed by several more that spread across the sub-continent. Today there are 26 Apollo multi-specialist hospitals offering the expertise of world-renowned medical specialists. "But this," says Mr. Mehta proudly referring to their newest hospital and first outside the country, "is our Crown Jewel." He was echoing the sentiments of the chairman Mr. Reddy in an interview with the press when he was in Colombo recently in connection with the commissioning of the Colombo based Apollo Hospital. Why? I ask. "Because of its very high level of technology and professional expertise. Our aim is to make this a Centre of medical excellence for the whole region. Patients in the Maldives, in Mauritius, in Malaysia are now forced to go to various countries like Singapore, or the UK or USA for advanced treatment. The costs at such hospitals are usually much too high for most patients. This is the reason we have decided to open this hospital to other countries as well, since our charges are much less while our technology and medical expertise is definitely on par, if not better than some of these hospitals in other countries." With this in mind, the Colombo Apollo hospital has incorporated a helipad on its roof, so that patients from abroad as well as patients from distant areas in Sri Lanka can be brought safely and quickly by helicopter to the hospital. "With patients from abroad coming here for treatment, it will also help your foreign exchange to go up," he adds. While the present bed strength is 350, when fully operational (probably by June end or early July), the Apollo Hospital at Narahenpita will be a 500 bed multi specialty offering over fifty specialties under one roof. "We have world renowned specialists for almost every disease here and they will be using state-of-the-art renowned specialists for almost every disease here and they will be using state-of-the-art equipment not found in most hospitals either here or in some of our neighbouring countries," Dr. Mehta observes. "All our reports are linked to the relevant units via the Hosptial Information system. Soon we hope to use modern technology such as tele-medicine to reach outstation patients as well thus bringing the hospital to their doorstep." In keeping with the hospital's credo of "tender loving care" each patient will be assigned a nurse who will be in complete charge of the patient. The patient - nurse ratio will be 1-1 and they will do everything for the patient - from changing the bed pan to changing bed sheets and washing and cleaning the patients. There will be no need for attendants since our nurses have been trained for this work." The majority of the nursing staff are from India and have been trained in India. But the second batch will be trained here, I was told. As Mr. Shukla points out, "Ours is a corporate hospital and we are following the American corporate system." Apart from the absence of attendants, a common sight in most other private hospitals in Sri Lanka, another significant difference in this hospital will be the availability of full time Consultants. Patients need not queue up for hours to make an appointment with a doctor and then go away disappointed if he does not turn up or else turns up very late. "In our hospital, a patient can make his or her appointment with a doctor over the telephone. And he can be sure that the doctor will be there on time for that appointment," Mr. Shukla promises. What's more, patients once registered with the hospital get a card that entitles them to a life time of loving medical care. Nor do they have to pay upfront for the consultation. They can pay the doctor's fee after the consultation. A guided tour of some of the units which were semi operational when we visited the hospital, was an eye opener. For not only did we see the state-of-the art technology that is unique to this hospital, but met some of the obviously dedicated staff members who took pains to explain the work of each unit. Our guide was a pleasant helpful Assistant Nursing Superintendent Ms Kala Francenaa who had worked at the Apollo hospital at Chennai and confessed that she looked forward to working here because it was a "real challenge. Besides" she says, your people are so much like our own people, it's like being at home." Our first stop was the "Birthing Centre. Birthing centre Here we were told by a jubilant staff that although only semi operative, two deliveries had been made that very morning. "We had two baby girls and both are doing well along with their mothers," says the nursing sister. You walk along a spotless tiled floor, past the nurses station till you reach the antenatal room where the pregnant mother to be is first brought in and kept until she is ready to give birth. A mother has two choices - she can stay in a dormitory room with six beds or else opt for a single deluxe room with additional facilities. All the rooms are spotlessly clean and well equipped with beds that have hand rests and head rests. A peep into the delivery room and we were next taken to the special feeding room where mothers can breast feed their babies on easy chairs or straight backed chairs, with a trained nurse to guide the new mother and advise her on cleaning the breast and holding the baby correctly while feeding. Our next stop was the post-natal room. Here we met Loretta Rayen, a mother for the second time who was resting after a complicated Caesarean delivery. "I am having excellent nursing care and the doctors are very friendly and easy to talk to." She tells me with a pleased smile. The x-ray radio therapy unit was our next stop. "Everything is computerised. No manual work is done here. Our special imaging machine can show us the x-ray within seconds with enlarged pictures if necessary", a technician explains. Lab co-ordinator Hilda Solomon who takes us around, next introduces us to Dr. Rohit Sharma, the senior pathologist who demonstrates how his state-of-the-art tissue processor and crystat machine works. What normally takes 48 hours to read can now be read in less than ten minutes. "This machine is very useful especially for cancer diagnosis during surgery," he says showing us how it worked. The Blood Bank was another impressive unit boasting eight rooms in all, including a special reception room with TV to put the donor at ease, another for screening the blood of the donor and a special room equipped with a bed with hand rest for the donor when the blood is finally drawn. "It goes through several processes and we ensure that the blood is not infected: Hilda assures us. Preventive service Our last stop was the Preventive service 'manned' by an efficient lady doctor, a Sri Lankan, Dr. Shan Perera. This unit is for 'well' people who can come in and check their blood pressure, get their urine and stools examined and also get themselves examined for cancer in our well woman clinic. We offer them our clients (note the stress of clients in place of patient since they are well persons), a number of packages starting with basic screening which is the Apollo Health check followed by the Apollo Executive check with additional checks and other packages of varying prices." Dr. Perera tells me. The 'grand finale' to this battery of tests that each client undergoes, "is breakfast - on the house since most of the clients come here fasting," she says proudly as she announces her piece-de-resistance. Open 24 hours of the day, the hospital has its own fleet of ambulances equipped with all the facilities needed to help critically ill patients including a team of trained paramedics who are in constant contact with the consultants in the hospitals. "They are our 'Hospitals On Wheels' and soon they will be taking the hospital to the door step of all your people in the distant parts of the country as well", promises Mr. Shukla.The Apollo Hospital brings a new concept in health care to Sri Lanka, combining as it does sophisticated medical technology with professional expertise at the highest level in tertiary care. That together with the comparatively low charges (they will be on par with Sri Lankan rates, says Mr. Shukla. "Our hospital charges will be only a fraction more than that charged in other private hospitals," adds Dr. Mehta. Medical excellence at affordable costs spiced with several spoonful of tender loving personalised care. These are the stuff of every patient's dreams. Such assurances are likely to titillate and attract patients to this hospital from Sri Lanka and beyond. If the hospital lives up to its credo of "Medical Excellence with a human touch" there's nothing to prevent it from becoming a regional medical centre par excellence in the near future. |
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