A new meaning to holistic healthcare

Transforming lives of the poor and needy in this drought-prone Marathwada region of Maharashtra, the Hedgewar Hospital, founded here 25 years ago by a team of seven altruistic doctors, strives to provide a new meaning to holistic healthcare not just with medical care but with everything else that takes to keep a person healthy.
Through compassionate medical care and innovative economic solutions resulting in long-term impacts, the hospital founded in July 1989 in a rented flat by five male and two female doctors--all fresh from medical colleges--now caters to a millions of poor farmers, migrant labourers and other needy and is a 300-bed multi-speciality hospital with tertiary healthcare facilities and world-class infrastructure.

Despite their high qualifications these doctors earn salaires ranging between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh, meagre in comparision to their peers.
Despite that they have been successful in raising the hospital whose motto is to touch the entire gamut of the lives of the poor and the needy with compassionate medical care and innovative economic solutions resulting in long-term impacts.
The founding doctors -- Ashwini Kumar Tupkary, Narendra Kulkarni, Bharat Deshmukh, Satish Kulkarni, Rajnedra Kshirsagar and his wife Manjiri Vyavhare and Jyotsna Kshirsagar all cite their intention to serve the society.
What started off in a rented 100 sqft flat with Rs 7 lakh -- paid for by these Samaritans a quarter century ago by selling or pledging their personal valuables and raising bank loans through friends -- now provides advanced treatments at affordable costs and boasts of 300 beds, with multiple ICUs and nearly 50 doctors, treating 1,000 patients a day in the OPD.

It spends over Rs 35 crore a year to run as many as 40 social sector projects impacting almost 0.5 million villagers and slum dwellers in and around this industrial city.

As its objective is affordable but world-class healthcare, yet remain profitable, the hospital charges a paltry Rs 7,000 for an average quality stent while the best quality comes for a princely sum of Rs 34,000, against the market rate of Rs 85,000- Rs 2,40,000. And event at this cost the hospital is not making any losses.
When queried how do they do it the doctors say by not allowing doctors to work on commission basis.

"We don't have anybody on the percentage system, all of them are on our rolls. So there is no incentive for them to fleece a hapless patient. Even at this low rates we are not subsidising a penny," they say.
Take the case of a 54-year-old villager Ramesh who came to the hospital with chest pain, cites one of the doctors.