Aspiring for a change

Dr K Prashanth Reddy, a young and successful pediatrician, has found the mantra for high quality healthcare at affordable prices

As you drive down the busy Paradise road, just a few blocks away from a famous restaurant in Hyderabad is Navodaya Hospital for Women and Children.

The not so imposing entrance (with its side wall painted with colourful cartoon characters) can easily be the door to one of the kids’ schools.

A walk through the well-equipped health facility designed for not just pediatric care, but also complete women and child care, will leave you mighty impressed.

Navodaya could have been any one of the high-end health facilities that are cropping up dime a dozen in and around Hyderabad, if it was not for Dr K Prashanth Reddy, a popular Pediatrician.

It has been his dream that has finally been realised - A Corporate Health Facility at Affordable Cost. “It is not rocket science. I have all the facilities to ensure the best care for mothers to be, best of the doctors to take care of delivery of babies and pre and post natal care.

In addition, I have gynecologists, who can take care of any women related health issues that may crop up at any stage in life. I ensured that Navodaya has well-equipped rooms that are designed for a comfortable stay for patients. And all these are available at a certain cost for patients who do not mind to pay for comfort.

I just made sure that there is one floor dedicated to those patients who still get the best of what the hospital can provide in terms of care, but the rooms may have to be shared, there may be one common television for one ward etc, and hence they do not end up shelling out more than what they can afford,” the 38-years-old doctor shares.

This is not a new idea, for, Dr Prashanth implemented the same concept at his Barkatpura facility for many years – Shalini Hospital – a friendly neighbourhood health facility providing gynecology and obstetrics care that abstained from charging more and depended more on numbers for their revenue.

Similarly, Navodaya has a multispecialty hospital at Mahabubnagar that was started a few years ago. Despite being the only such facility in the vicinity, the emphasis at the multispecility is on health care at affordable cost. “My father used to live in Krishnampalli, 20 km from Hyderabad. He never chose to shift to the city.

And when he had a heart attack, he died before reaching a good hospital. The 200-bed facility in the district provides us with emotional satisfaction more than anything,” recalls Dr Prashanth, who continues to see OPs even after 12 years of practice and despite his busy schedule.

He has patients from all across (especially old city) and also from the surrounding districts seeking his consultation. And he treats all of them irrespective of their financial status, and that has been his investment – Trust and personal touch that he created over the years. He hopes to carry forward the good will to his future endeavours.

Dr Prashanth enjoys the support and advice of his uncle, S Rajender Reddy, who is also the chairman for Navodaya Education Trust, Raichur, his sister Praneetha Reddy helps in operations and his wife, who is also a doctor and assists the popular gynecologist Dr Balamma is his partner in his aspirations.

Today, he goes forward with a singular vision of expanding his concept of quality and affordable health care under one umbrella, through many more Navodaya hospitals spread across the city that will serve not just the patients in the vicinity, but will also be the nodal points for shifting critical patients from the surrounding districts. He further plans to expand brand Navodaya to Bengaluru, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam involving proactive and like-minded partnerships.

“The hospitals will have doctors and specialists 24X7, 365 days, unlike any other maternity hospital. And each one of them will be built with the best of the facilities, consultants and will have a floor dedicated for affordable healthcare,” he reiterates. Dr Prashanth Reddy has great aspirations and he works towards achieving them while on move, quite literally. None of his hospitals have a dedicated office room for him.

Whenever he is at any of his facility for administrative purposes, he uses the board room. “If I have a room, I will get used to comfort and my lifestyle will change. I will need an attendant who will bring everything to my table and I will lose the personal touch that I now enjoy with my doctors, team and patients. I like to be always on the move,” he states.

By:Rajeshwari Kalyanam