Road to recovery - at Sai Hospital

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Road to recovery - at Sai Hospital

 

Contributed by Jaykumar

 

July 8, 2004

 

A small report prepared after a visit to Sri Sathya Sai Super

Speciality Hospital recently by the Author.

 

Dear brothers and sisters,

 

Sai Ram!

 

Below is a small report prepared after a visit to Sri Sathya Sai

Super Speciality Hospital recently.

 

"The Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences" in Bangalore

provides free state-of-the-art medical care to the needy.

 

Health care in India comes at a premium and a large section of the

one billion people do not have access to it. Specialised care,

especially when it comes to ailments of the heart and brain, is

beyond the means of many in the country.

 

The Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences was set up at

Whitefield in Bangalore on January 19, 2001 to provide free state-of-

the-art Medicare to a cross-section of the population. Within three

years of its inception, the hospital has had over two lakh

outpatient visits, with 4,344 cardiac and 3,695 neuro surgeries

performed here.

 

As one enters the clean precincts, what strikes the eye is that

there are no cash counters here. Free tertiary care is yet to take

off in a big way in India, says Dr A N Safaya, the director of the

institute. "We have made a beginning in this direction. Free in no

way means substandard facilities and services. The treatment and

facilities here are at par with the best in the world. It is a

matter of policy that the patients get the best in terms of

treatment and facilities," he says.

 

There is an element of spirituality in the treatment process, say

the institute sources, and hence they prefer to call their

hospitals, the one in Puttaparthi and the other here, `Temples of

Healing'.

 

According to Dr Safaya, free Medicare offered to the weaker sections

serves more than just the families concerned. "It benefits the

society in general as the loss of the breadwinner in this section

could often leave the family destitute and dependant on society."

Due to the hospital's egalitarian approach, all patients are treated

alike here. The queue system in place is broken only in the case of

an emergency.

 

The success rate of the hospital is very high with failure rates as

low as under two per cent, claims Dr P K Das, Head of the Department

of Cardiology. The focus is on complete recovery. The cost incurred

on the treatment - whether it is diagnosis, surgery or post-

operative care - is not a matter of concern here, he says.

 

Now the institute plans to enter the fourth phase in the process of

recovery. Once the patient is back home after treatment, the

institute will monitor his health with the help of local agencies to

ensure that the patient strictly follows the health regimen. Or

else, all efforts will be in vain, says Dr Das.

 

The association of renowned doctors like Dr A S Hegde, the chairman

of the neurosciences department, and Dr Anil Kumar, the head of

cardio-thoracic vascular surgery, with the institute has only helped

enhance its reputation.

 

The institute has cutting edge equipment and all required test and

diagnosis facilities that can be done at the premises. The equipment

includes an MRI scanner and a GEC Signa machine with a 1.5 tesla

capacity CVNVI, one of the few in India. The MRI is a crucial and

efficient aid in diagnostic radiology which leads to effective

treatment and faster cure.

 

Accommodation for relatives accompanying patients has been a major

problem, especially when the patients are not from Bangalore. A

dormitory is being constructed in the vicinity of the hospital for

attendants of patients, which will soon be functional.

 

According to hospital sources, these projects are more like a model

or an example to follow. "A single hospital of this size cannot

claim to be able to treat all patients suffering from heart and

brain diseases. But it will serve as a working model to make

available complicated medical technology free of charge to patients

who cannot otherwise afford it," a hospital official said."

 

T. S. Jaykumar

 

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