Catering to Cancer Care

In 1989, he joined a group of oncologists to start Bangalore Institute of Oncology. He was been acquiring and starting new cancer hospitals and set-ups ever since

Dr BS Ajaikumar (56) Chairman, HealthCare Global Enterprises Limited

Born in August, 1951 in Bangalore, Dr Ajai Kumar did his MBBS from St John's Medical College, Bangalore during 1968- 73. In 1975, he joined the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA. He did his fellowship in Radiation Oncology and Medical Oncology from the MD Anderson's Tumour Hospital and Institute, Houston, USA.

Why an entrepreneur?

He believes physician-led initiatives can go a long way in taking healthcare service to the masses, especially in developing countries like India. "This is all the more true in the case of oncology as there is huge unmet demand for cancer care nationally. Against this background, I had a vision to provide high quality cancer care on a pan-India basis to all sections of the society irrespective of their socio-economic status. This thought spurred me to become an entrepreneur," says he.

Before becoming an entrepreneur

After his training at MD Anderson Hospital Tumor Institute, he got an opportunity to practice at the institute. "But I preferred to establish a cancer centre near Chicago and practiced there for over 20 years. The experience gathered there has helped me to replicate the same in India but in a bigger way," says he.

The first move

In 1989, Dr Ajai Kumar joined a group of five oncologists in Bangalore and started the then 30-bed Bangalore Institute of Oncology (BIO), the only private cancer hospital at that point of time in Bangalore. This was under the flagship of Banashankari Medical and Oncology Research Center Ltd (BMORC). Today, BIO is a 120-bed hospital with over 65 consultant physicians and staff strength of nearly 300, treating over 2,500 new cancer patients every year. In October 1990, he set up Bharath Hospital and Institute of Oncology at Mysore to predominantly help rural patients undergo cancer treatment.

In April 2000, Dr Ajai Kumar acquired a fledgling cancer centre called Curie Centre of Oncology, owned by a businessman in New York. Encouraged by the turn of events, in 2001 the same group of physicians decided to set up a holding company— HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd (HCG) that would offer comprehensive cancer care under its unique 'hub and spoke' model on a pan-India basis.

The most recent addition to the cancer treatment centers is the Malnad Hospital and Institute of Oncology at Shimoga in 2003 — located on a sprawling six acres land on the Bhadravathi Main Road.

Over the years

Currently, HCG manages nine cancer centres in India, apart from a Medical Cyclotron and PET-CT and an onco-pathology referral lab at Bangalore. "In 2004 from about 15-20 doctors, we have grown today to over 120 doctors. Our unique business model caught the imagination of PE/ VC funding and till date we have received funding from IDFC Private Equity, Evolvence India Life Sciences Fund LLC and PremjiInvest. With these funding we are confident of scaling up fast and also equip our facilities with state-of-the-art equipment that would revolutionise cancer care in India. Simultaneously we would rope in oncologists from all over the world to practice at HCG," says he.

The total manpower has grown from around 150-200 to around 1,500 employees during the same period.

Fears and apprehensions

"Initially, he was apprehensive on the financial front. “Fortunately, our business model was an instant hit and this was ably supported by the team of dedicated doctors in delivering quality cancer care. These two factors have helped us to go from strength to strength and dream of bigger projects that would redefine oncology treatment in India," says he.

Overcoming roadblocks

The main hurdle for entrepreneurs is fear of failure. "Fear is the worst enemy and others are only logistic issues like timely completion of projects, meeting expectations of the investors group as well as partners,” says he. Besides, working together with doctors could prove to be a challenge as there is always the concern of ego clash. “Being the Chairman and CEO of group, I look upon myself as a facilitator and try to bring people together, communicate with them and treat them with respect. At the same time, I make sure that processes are in place that ensures smooth functioning of the organisation in a professional way," says he.

Mistakes made and lessons learnt

As an entrepreneur, he has learnt to pay more attention to detailing operational issues to ensure that well-defined systems are not violated. "Particularly in India, the main concern is handling manpower as they need to be repeatedly reminded of their tasks and responsibilities. My immediate challenge is to develop a professional work culture that respects process-driven working environment," says he.

Tips for entrepreneurship

"One needs to have a broader vision and have belief in one’s own vision. Importantly, he should have conviction to take the idea forward without any hesitation. Implementation and financial viability are the most important components that would drive any business model successfully," says he.

An entrepreneur that he admires in healthcare

"There are a good number of admirable entrepreneurs who have done exceptional work in healthcare and thus it would not be appropriate to name individuals," says he.

Way ahead

Though he has been tempted by diversification, he has decided to stay focused on oncology. "The way ahead is to become a true oncology leader and sustain it by benchmarking ourselves with the best in the world. Our ultimate goal is to provide accepted and innovative therapy that is contemporary to all the patients irrespective of their socio-economic status. Also we want to substantially expand our healthcare foundation and build a corpus that would fund treatment of deserving patients from the economically weaker sections of the society. Our goal is not to deny treatment to deserving patients because of their socio economic status," says he.

As for the upcoming proects he says, "We expect to clock exponential growth in the coming few years. Besides organic growth, we are also looking at inorganic growth to spread far and wide nationally in tune with our hub and spoke model. In addition, we are having ambitious plans to foray overseas within the next two to three months."