A Man On a Mission

He formed Meenakshi Mission with 100 beds with 20 doctors in 1990. Today, the hospital boasts of 600 beds and 250 doctors

Dr N Sethuraman (65) Chairman, Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre, Madurai

Born in 1943, he did his MBBS from Madurai Medical College, MS from Madurai university, MCh, Urology from Madras University, MNAMS in Genito urinary,

Why an entrepreneur?

While he was working as Assistant Professor of urology in Madurai Medical College, he was disturbed to see the plight of poor patients in Government hospitals. "Being a person who hailed from the deepest rural part of Tamil Nadu, I understood their pain. So I decided to start a hospital where all the sectors of the society can get treatment without economic hurdles. This idea had come as a vision of our hospital— 'no man is too poor to afford first grade medical treatment'," says Dr Sethuraman.

The first move

Dr Sethuraman established SR Trust, a non-profit, public charitable trust to make healthcare services available to rural areas. He found a surgical set-up in Madurai, a 60-bed hospital with just three departments (urology, surgery and orthopaedics) in Munichalai Road, Madurai. Later on, a cancer department was added. In 1990, he established Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre (MMHRC) — a charitable, multi-speciality, non-profit, teaching institution at Madurai, with 100 beds.

Over the years

Today, the hospital has become one of the largest hospitals in Tamil Nadu with 600 beds and 250 doctors. "The revenue in the first year of operations was Rs 4.8 crore which has grown to Rs 58 crore with an average of Rs 27 crore. The hospital has been adding speciality divisions every year to the mission and social commitment," says Dr Sethuraman.

MMHRC has expanded its wings to provide treatment to the poor and needy in Tamil Nadu in collaboration with the District authorities of Thirunvelvel and Tuticorin and with support of the Smile Train, USA, MMHRC has met the district free from cleft lip/ palate problems and received citation from the respective collectors. "In collaboration with Smile Train, USA we have performed more than 3,000 quality corrective surgeries free of cost," he beams.

It has also set up health centres in remote village areas. "Five peripheral health centres are maintained by MMHRC in collaboration with the village improvement committee, instituted with the help of social and health workers. Community health services are offered by these centres to benefit the villagers," states Dr Sethuraman.

Awards

He has been conferred with BC Roy National Award and Life Time Achievement Award awarded by the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America.

Fears and apprehensions

"I would rather say passion than fear. The unearthed seed of cultivating health for poor gave birth to MMHRC. The ray of hope sometimes got strayed due to delayed initial response from others. I should also admit that I come from background where no one was in business and there was no great financial acumen or anything. I struggled a lot but some how muddled through," he says on his struggling years.

Any formal degree in management?

"Getting a degree on management may be an additional feather for an entrepreneur. In my perception, understanding about managerial concepts, context of management, specific subjects and functions help aspirations to understand things more easily and clearly also a person can relate everything they learn with the reality of organisations and understand how organisations really work," he sums up.

Overcoming roadblocks

He calls roadblocks stepping-stones which have sharpened his skill and enhanced his productivity. "I had decided not to entertain part time doctors in my hospital. But it was very difficult to appoint full-time doctors," he remembers.

Any corporate hospital take a lean period of five years to break even, but at that time, the bankers were not flexible. "So, we faced losses in the first five years and we were not able to pay the dues to the financial institutions after meeting the statutory and basic expenses. At that time, we adopted turnaround strategies and our joint effort took the hospital to gigantic height," says he.

Initially, getting patients was an uphill task. “We made some efforts to create fame. The domain was not built in a day," adds he.

Tips for entrepreneurship

"The question that every start-up must ask itself is what is the problem that this idea is trying to solve? Very often there is no problem to solve or the startup is addressing a problem that is not top-of- the-mind for the users,” he opines.

“Any organisation is only as good as the people that it employs and that is even more so for a start-up. Often due to time pressure and lack of patience, sub optimal personal are hired and nothing can be worse than not having the right team in place to executive against the strong idea that the team started with. Often start-ups stretch themselves too thin and start focusing on too many opportunities. Even worse is when the founding team spends their team raising money, taking focus away from building the product / service," suggests Dr Sethuraman.

An entrepreneur that he admires in healthcare

Dr G Venkatasamy, Founder, Aravind Eye Hospital and a renowned ophthalmologist was a major source of inspiration for Dr Sethuraman. "He had an amazing inner strength, the ability to deal with adversity and had humility and perseverance and patience in abundance. He remains a spark of inspiration in me. While marching towards his footpath, I visualise the transition of success over experiences," concludes Dr Sethuraman.

The road ahead

"I foresee a lot of activities in the future, mainly launching a TV channel and opening a medical university. However, there are other things too, which need my attention, like raising funds for social activities," he exclaims.