An ‘Eye’con in Ophthalmic Care

In 1978, he started Sankara Nethralaya on the campus of Vijaya Hospital and moved it to the present campus with a capacity of 17 beds. At present, Sankara Nethralaya has five campuses in the city of Chennai and one each in Kolkota and Bangalore

Dr Sengamedu Srinivasa Badrinath (68) Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya

Born in the year 1940 in Chennai, Dr SS Badrinath graduated from Madras Medical College in 1963. He did internship and a year of internal medicine residency at Glasslands Hospital, New York, following the study of Basic Sciences in Ophthalmology at the New York University postgraduate Medical School, he did residency in ophthalmology at the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Infirmary, New York, and a fellowship with Dr Charles Schepens at the Retina Service of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts, US. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada in 1969 and Diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology in 1970. He was awarded an honarary fellowship by the Royal college of surgeons, Edinburgh.

Before being an entrepreneur

After returning to India in 1970, he worked as an Honorary Consultant in ophthalmology at the Voluntary Health Service Medical Centre, Chennai for five years and thereafter as a Consultant at HM Hospital and Vijaya Hospital till 1978.

Why an entrepreneur?

He wanted to start an institute with the object of practicing quality eye care in ophthalmology, training and teaching and pursue research in ophthalmology.

The first move

The story goes that Dr Badrinath operated on the Paramacharya (seer) of Kanchi. The Acharya H H Jagadguru Sri Jeyendra Saraswathi Swamigal, the present Peetathipasthi of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam gave a clarion call for doctors to come together and start a hospital at a meeting in 1976. But then, Dr Badri found it difficult to mobilise doctors to start a general hospital and decided to start an eye hospital instead.

He did not have money to start a hospital and was equally averse to taking loan from the bank as he felt that the focus would turn to money, as he would be under the pressure to repay it. He raised donations for the project from the community. "The first donation came from another HH Sri Sankaracharya of Sringeri Peetam. Soon support from corporates and others followed," says he.

Thus in 1978 he set up Sankara Nethralaya (SN) as a unit of the Medical Research Foundation, a registered, not-for-profit charitable organisation with just 35 people. The hospital started on the campus of Vijaya Hospital, where Dr Badrinath served as a consultant.

Over the years

Today, there are nearly 1,000 committed people working and an inflow of 1,500 patients per day and over 125 surgeries are performed every day at SN. "This organisation started with just three consultants, and now it has over 80, all working for a salary (that keeps costs low). Over 50 per cent of the cases are supported free of cost," says he.

At present, SN has five campuses in the city of Chennai. It has also helped him in developing in other parts of the country like Assam and Maharashtra, by affiliating with institutions and branches that have similar philosophy. Today, SN is a self-sustaining institution, and does not depend on donations. Revenues from paying patients take care of all its working capital needs while all surplus is ploughed back. But it still depends on donation for capital investments — especially equipment which are costly and has to be imported.

Contribution to healthcare

Today, SN works on solutions through focus on and striking a balance between clinical care, training and research. In clinical care, it has done some pioneering work, like it was the first to introduce photo refractive keratectomy and later lasik, which uses laser to improve vision; the first to perform a long and complex surgery Osteo Odonto Kerato Prosthesis where it uses a patient's tooth to restore vision. This procedure involves the use of the patient's tooth to fashion a clear new cornea to replace a diseased or damaged one thereby restoring vision to those who previously had no option of treatment.

The rural outreach programmes of SN cater to the population where healthcare facilities are inadequate. In 2002, Sankara Nethralaya launched its teleophthalmology project in Tamil Nadu. In their endeavor to continue to serve the underprivileged sections of the society using modern technology, the project aims at remote consultations through mobile unit, providing second opinions\diagnosis (tertiary consultation), promote the proficiency of ophthalmologist, physicians and other healthcare personnel by means of video conference-based training, and creating awareness among general population in rural area about eye disorders.

Sankara Nethralaya has several research departments, each dedicated to a specialised area such as genetics, histopathology, microbiology and ocular pathology. These departments are recognised worldwide for their path-breaking research publications that appear regularly in medical journals. The hospital's Kamalnayan Bajaj Institute for research in vision and ophthalmology is dedicated to pioneering world-class research and innovations in nano-technology and stem-cell applications relevant to eye care. Dr Badrinath has also initiated some novel technology-enabled practices like tele-ophthalmology and mobile spectacle dispensing van that literally take eye care to the masses.

Awards

He is the recipient of 'Padma Sri' Award, Padma Bhushan, 'Dhanvantari' Award, Rameshwardasji Birla Award, Qimpro Platinum Standard-Healthcare Award, Dadabhai Naoroji Memorial Award, Life Time Achievement Award given by the International Medical Integration Council & Optimal Healthcare Group, Life Time Achievement Award given by ICFAI.

Overcoming roadblocks

"I am sure there were lot of risks he has taken since lot of expansion projects were entirely based upon donation from people at large and this is not a predictable commodity. It is to his satisfaction that he was able to motivate philanthropists to donate for the cause of SN," says Dr Lingam Gopal, Chairman, SN.

Tips for entrepreneurship that he passed on to his team

"His success is in bringing together qualified and hard working people. He was able to mould the group together and inculcate in them the same philosophy and ideology that he believed in. He is constantly on the move and he is forever thinking of changes and improvements so that SN can serve better people at large, both directly and indirectly. His visionary thinking has enabled the institution to concentrate on education and research as important components of the overall activities. These are important for the over all growth of the institution and actually help to improve the quality of eye care that is delivered," says Dr Gopal.

An entrepreneur that he admires in healthcare

He has admiration for Dr Prathap C Reddy of Apollo Hospitals.

The road ahead

The continuous quality monitoring and the stress on all the three aspects of activity have enabled the institution to grow enormously in the extent of care offered as well as the type of care offered.

"He is very much involved in the management of Sankara Nethralaya on daily as well as long term strategic basis. In view of his wide contacts as well as visionary thinking, his input is always appreciated and acted upon," says Dr Gopal.

It is investing Rs 20 crore to set up a full-fledged eye-care hospital in Kolkata. "I will come up on half an acre of land provided by the West Bengal Government on the arterial Eastern Metropolitan Bypass," says Dr Badrinath.

"He envisages consolidation of what we have achieved so far and further growth of the institution. Seeds that he has sown today should see the growth in ophthalmic research to a degree that it can well change the way eye treatment is offered," informs Dr Gopal.