Driven By Zeal

In 1957, he came to Chennai with just Rs 250 in his pocket and started his practice from a small rented clinic. Today, his creation— Dr Agarwal's Eye Hospital has 27 eye hospitals in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan

Dr Jaiveer Agarwal (78) Chairman, Dr Agarwal's Eye Hospital

Born in 1930, he did MBBS from Jaipur and post graduation from Aligarh.

Why an entrepreneur?

"I am a medical practitioner trying to help as many people as I can. Right from the very beginning, I have been thinking only of eradicating blindness. In the bargain, I have developed a hi-tech chain of hospitals which benefit patients,” he says as a matter of fact.

Before being an entrepreneur

In 1957, immediately after his post-graduation, Dr Agarwal along with his ophthalmologist wife came to Chennai with Rs 250. "I started practice from a small rented clinic," says he. For over two decades, as his patients came in droves, the clinic was turned into a nursing home.

The first move

As the number of patients swelled, a need was felt to build a larger hospital. It was only in 1976, that Dr Agarwal decided to fulfill his long-cherished dream of setting up a hospital whose structure resembles the shape of an eye. He located a suitable land in Cathedral Road for this.

In fact, this is the only eye hospital in the world built in the shape of an eye, listed as a Major Eye Centre of the World by the International Congress of Ophthalmology and has found a place in the ‘Ripley's Believe It or Not.’ Thus, a two-storeyed eye hospital with 6,000 square feet space was commissioned in 1976. He managed funding of the project by self-earning and assistance from banks.

Over the years

In 1983, three more floors were added, making it a 30,000 square-feet area. But the big leap happened in 1990, when Dr Agarwal's son Prof Amar Agarwal joined after completing his FRCS. Realising that patients required ophthalmology care at their doorsteps, Prof Amar tapped on the need to have more ophthalmology centres with high-tech equipment across India.

"Today, we have 140 doctors, 1,000 employees in 27 hospitals across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. We now have 2,500 patients in OPD everyday,” he says Dr J Agarwal with a tinge of pride.

Today, at the main centre in Chennai over 1,500 surgeries are performed per month, out of which 500 surgeries are done absolutely free.

Contribution to healthcare

Under Dr Agarwal's guidance, the hospital has pioneered some path-breaking techniques in ophthalmology. It has introduced Phakonit, 700 micron cataract surgery, no anesthaesia cataract surgery, aberropia and gas forced infusion (air pump) in cataract surgery. It has introduced a tissue glue that sticks intro-ocular lens, for the first time in Asia. Cyro surgery in ophthalmology was first successfully performed in India at Dr Agarwal's Eye Hospital in 1966. Refractive keratoplasty was done at the institute for the first time in Asia in 1981. Magnetoplexy, the surgical procedure for the treatment of giant retinal detachment with magnets, was introduced in 1988.

He was instrumental in bringing about custom duty exemption for sight saving instruments by the Government of India in 1988 and this saw a new horizon emerging on the scenario of Indian ophthalmology. "Now our eye surgeons implant lenses without having to pay the duty for microscopes, IOLs, lasers and other sight-saving equipment," says he.

Fears and apprehensions

Establishing oneself when one has only Rs 250 was not easy. "But I was always confident of myself," he states.

Any formal degree in management?

No.

Overcoming roadblocks

For somebody who had little resources, getting loan from the bank was an uphill task. Getting people who were committed to their job has also been a challenge. "We need sincere and dedicated people who would

execute our plans and give wings to our dreams, but it is difficult to get such people," rues Dr J Agarwal. While it is crucial to have doctors with technical knowledge, it not an easy task to get such trained manpower. "We train all our doctors at the main hospital before sending them to the other centres," says Prof Amar Agarwal.

Mistakes made and lessons learnt

"I have achieved what I had set out for," says Dr J Agarwal.

Awards

He has been conferred with Padma Bhushan in 2006 and 'Life Time Achievement Award', by the prestigious All India Ophthalmological Society in the year 2001 and by Tamil Nadu Ophthalmic Association in 2002. He has received honours from Singapore

National Eye Centre, Eye Donation Society - Sri Lanka; Bascom Palmer Eye Institute- Miami, USA; Barraquer Eye Institute Bogota, Colombia and many more.

Tips for entrepreneurship

"Hard work with intelligent planning," says he.

An entrepreneur that he admires in healthcare

Dr Prathap C Reddy.

The road ahead

Dr J Agarwal still sees patients in the OPD and holds the reins of management. However, he has handed over the business development aspect of the group to his son. "To cope with the increase in work load in retina-related cases and also encourage research in retina-related diseases, we are coming up with a separate block in a 10,000 square feet building called Agarwal Retina Foundation. This would be commissioned by March, 2009," informs Prof Amar Agarwal.

The group also intends to start a new facility for plastic surgery and cosmetic treatment for face. It plans to start its first overseas center in Mauritius, this year. "We just received the permission to build a hi-tech eye hospital in Mauritius. The construction of the project would start soon," says Prof Amar Agarwal.

“As a part of our business strategy, we would not diversify. We want to focus on ophthalmology only," discloses Dr J Agarwal. As a part of its major expansion plans, the group aims to have 50 eye hospitals by 2010.