Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has asked CARE Hospitals to take responsibility of supporting at least 20 government primary health care centres. The country has 23,000 PHCs in towns and villages but most of them lack expert doctors to attend to patients in rural areas.
“Many of the 23,000 PHCs are not very active due to lack of expertise and infrastructure. Is it possible for CARE Hospitals to dynamically activate at least 20 PHCs that are close to the group hospitals at different places,” he asked.
Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the Rs 30-crore exclusive outpatient centre of CARE Hospitals, he said doctors should have six virtues of ethics, generosity, tolerance, perseverance, concentration and intelligence.
Quoting from the book ‘Biology of Beliefs’ written by Bruce Lipton, he said doctors should not regard the power of belief as something inferior to the power of chemicals and scalpel. “They should let go of the belief that the body and its parts are essentially stupid,” he said. Group Chief Executive Officer N. Krishna Reddy said the centre has 100 consultation rooms to take care of different medical needs of people. Besides housing diagnostic facility, it would perform day-care surgeries.
“The concept of healthcare delivery has changed over a period of time. It is no longer a hospital. It is about management of health and wellness. People with some abnormalities cannot be considered sick,” he said.
On the shortage of skilled professionals in the industry, he said though it was a problem overall, the hospital could manage because of Fellowship Programmes in 20 specialities. The hospital employs 50 cardiologists and 20 cardiac surgeons. “We run four nursing colleges also,” he said.
B. Soma Raju, Chairman and Managing Director, said people should avoid hospitalisation as far as possible. “Mortality and morbidity are 20 times higher in people who are admitted to intensive care unit,” he said.