A Messiah for Heart

One of the finest cardio-thoracic surgeons, he built the 130-bed Asian Heart Institute, Mumbai in 2002. Today, besides building another hospital in Orissa, he is planning a slew of satellite hospitals in Mumbai

Dr Ramakanta Panda (53) Founder and Vice-Chairman, Asian Heart Institute, Mumbai

He was born in Jajpur, a coastal belt of Orissa, in August 1955 in a family of landlords. After doing his MBBS from SCB Medical College, Cuttack, MCh in cardio thoracic surgery from AIIMS, he went to Cleveland Clinic for fellowship in cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, working under the pioneer of by-pass surgery Dr Floyd D Loop.

Why an entrepreneur?

'When I visited rural health centres in the US, I was shocked to realise that urban healthcare centres in India did not have even one-tenth of what the rural centres in the US. had That's when I firmed up my mind to build a state-of-the-art cardiac centre in India modelled on Cleveland Clinic," he recollects.

Before becoming an entrepreneur

He worked as a Senior Registrar, heart transplant and cardiac surgery, at Harefield Hospital, London and then in Cleveland Clinic. When he decided to come back to India, he did not have any promoter waiting in the wings for his dream project. But he had hope in his eyes and courage in his heart. So, the comeback strategy was pragmatic— to first start working as a consultant to a hospital in India and then look for setting something on his own. "At that time, the options of choosing the hospital to work were not abundant. Since Mumbai as a city seemed to provide me the opportunity of making my dreams come true, I decided to start working in Mumbai's Jaslok Hospital," informs Dr Panda.

As his fame of being a top-class surgeon went beyond the walls of Jaslok Hospital, soon he was found operating in Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital, Breach Candy Hospital, Nanavati and Cumballa Hill Hospital.

The first move

While establishing his foothold in Mumbai, he continued to work on his dream project. "Along with my CA Anjaria every weekend I scouted for land in Mumbai. In 2000, ultimately I bought this piece of land in Bandra Kurla," says he. Out of the Rs 95 crore required for the project, 60 per cent was taken from United Bank of India and Bank of India and the rest was pumped in by his friends, patients and relatives and him. He also convinced some reputed cardiologists of the city to join him as promoter.

In May 2001, the construction of the hospital began. In November 2002, the OPD of the 130-bed hospital commenced and in January 2003, the IPD was opened.

Over the years

From a cardiac hospital, it has become a hospital providing paediatric cardiology and orthopaedics. It is the only hospital outside the US which has a basket of accreditations: JCI, ISO and NIAHO. It does as many as 15,000 surgeries in a year. "In the initial phases, we had 35 per cent growth. And for the last three years, we are witnessing 15 per cent growth," says he. Not surprisingly then that the hospital took only 18 months to break even. "We had a revenue of Rs 88 crore, last fiscal. This year, we would make around Rs 96 crore. Our EBITDA margin is 20-21 per cent," says he.

Contribution to healthcare

Conducting over 15,000 cardiac surgeries with 3,000 cases being high-risk, he is one of the pioneers in the use of arterial conducts for bypass grafting, redo coronary artery bypass grafting, severely damaged hearts and cardiac remodeling. He performs more than 99 per cent bypass surgeries by beating heart technique and most bypass surgeries using arterial conduits only. He has one of the safest records in the world with a mortality of less than 0.5 per cent in isolated coronary bypass surgeries for last five years.

Mistakes made and lessons learnt

In its five-year existence, many people have left the organisation. "Many people left the organisation because they did not perform. I also appointed some wrong people," he reasons. The story goes that his impatience with incompetence has on some occasions resulted in angry outbursts. "When it comes to patient care I can't be completely diplomatic, that's not me. I appreciate my bluntness. But then I am learning people management skills. Today, I would express my expectation in a polite manner and egg on the person to perform better, providing him with the necessary training," informs Dr Panda.

The road ahead

When he decided to take cardiac care outside Maharashtra, it had to be in Orissa, his home town. He has announced plans of opening a 300-bed multi specialty hospital in Chandrasekharpur, Orissa. Spread on an area of 1,50,000 square feet, the Rs 150-crore project would start functioning from 2010. The Mumbai hospital is also being scaled up to 250 beds within a year's time.

Eschewing his earlier plans of another multi-speciality hospital in Mumbai, he now wants to set up a chain of 100 to 150-bed satellite hospitals in Mumbai. "Each would be built with a cost of Rs 30 crore to Rs 40 crore with the present hospital acting as a hub," he informs.

As part of cardiac rehabilitation, AHI is also getting into medical spa business. "We just signed a deal with a Thailand Group for that," he adds. He also nurtures the dream of starting a trust that would provide scholarship to underprivileged but bright students.

Any formal degree in management?

'No. Management is nothing but common sense. Dhirubhai Ambai or Bill Gates never went to any management school. I read all sorts of management books to understand the nuances of management," says he.

Fears and apprehensions

Because the hospital was doctor-driven, Dr Panda was apprehensive about not having deep pockets.

Overcoming roadblocks

He was aware about the common bottlenecks one comes across while building a hospital and thus tied all loose ends from before. "The common bottlenecks are finance, co-ordination with architects and other consultants and statutory compliance. While finance was not an issue, we ensured that we don't face the second hurdle by spending as much as six months for planning the project," says he. To complete the project in a record 19 months, he kept penalty and bonus for the vendors.

Tips for entrepreneurship

"Unless you believe that you can succeed, you never would. Take risks but begin in a modest manner. At one point, I had mortgaged everything. Today, I have paid off two-third of the loan. I achieved this because I believed in my dream," says he.

An entrepreneur that he admires in healthcare

Dr Prathap C Reddy of Apollo.