Hospitals systematically deliver high-quality services, placing people in the center. It means patients and communities are empowered for their health. It also means adopting a longer-term perspective beyond saving lives to enhancing the quality of life of patients.

Ronald May, National Head, Dr. Rela Institute and Medical Centre, has worked in the healthcare industry for the past 18 years from the Grass root levels to Managerial levels. He has traveled to almost all parts of the country to work with major brands of hospitals. 

Dr. Rela Institute and Medical Centre is an International Medical facility with a quaternary care Hospital dedicated to fostering and responding to the needs of a diverse patient population.

Dr. Rela Institute and Medical Centre providing highly specialized care in all specialties

Ronald sheds light on the subject, “Basically, we have three pillars, and the first pillar is driven by values. So we have four sets of values, the first value is patient is first in everything that we do in terms of the decision in terms of acknowledging in terms of empathy, in terms of motivation, the patient comes first. So we put everything first to the patient. So that's the prime principle which is being followed right from the security to the doctors to the top management.  The second one is respect, not only for your team members, managers, subordinates, or hierarchy but even to the people, to the patient, to everyone in the hospital and the facility. So any human being you see, there's respect from each and every one. And then the next thing is teamwork, which is, of course, one of the best team clinical teams that we have be it the nursing or doctors, and the management team, so all play a vital role. And the final one is a passion for excellence. So everybody looks at being an excellent person to contribute to the system. So that's what the values are driven which then comes out to the patient-centricity and I think it is one of the strongest bottom backbones, which is actually there. And the second one is, of course, the state of the art infrastructure and the facilities that we have, we have the latest equipment and the treatment model. So then, because of that, also the doctors, the nursing, and the paramedics can do the best for the patient. And of course, we have well trained and highly skilled doctors and staff is which is very important. So all this put together actually gives the big difference to the patient and the outcomes of the game,” he says.

Dr. Rela has received the ‘Best Liver Transplant Unit’ award 

Ronald explains how Dr. Rela Institute puts a special focus on the care of the critically ill and multi-organ transplantation, “When you look at multi-organ transplants, the basic outcome is the post-op care which is very much important compared to the outcome levels of the patient treatment. And of course, the doctors are skilled in terms of performing the surgeries and modalities to identify the cases and the symptoms and the problems in the organs. But what really counts is the post-op care of the patient and the well-being of the patient taken care of clinically placed morally, mentally, and also in terms of the technician wise managing them every day. We have one of the largest liver ICU facilities in the world, which has been again recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records, and to maintain that we have very qualified doctors, paramedics, and staff. So based on all of these factors, is what we get the award for Best liver transplant unit. And it is not just a one-time thing it has to be maintained and taken to further levels of maintenance and management of care. So I think that has been one of the forefronts of the image of the liver transplants here and the other transplants that we have because transplant is in the high-end procedures which actually requires a lot of post-ops. So I think that's what is driving us to excellence,” he says.

The journey from the Grass root level to the Managerial level

Ronald explains, “My journey started off as a receptionist at a small diagnostic center, GM Healthcare in Bangalore. I owe them everything for giving me an opportunity. And basically, my journey has been driven because of my mother's passion and no desire for me to become a doctor. And this is how I could come up and actually be a support to the doctors, nursing staff, paramedics, and the management staff. And I've worked with various teams, corporate hospitals with various strategies implementing in different market domains. And I have traveled almost all over India in different corporate hospitals. So I've seen quite a lot of various people. But one thing, my journey has been that there are only two things which I want to say to everyone who's actually looking at it, that it's about your passion, and the domain expertise that you have gained over a period of time, and the people skills that you develop, how to manage your teams. So I think these three things are very vital. And in fact, my family has been the first teacher to me; I have two beautiful daughters and a wife. And managing them every day has been my joyous experience also, and they have taught me a lot of lessons in my life. And so the journey has been smooth because of them. And also I've really enjoyed my life and they have been with me all the time, everywhere that I went. And that's my inspiration. And the journey has been absolutely wonderful. I've made a lot of friends I'm still in connect with a lot of people and I'm regularly in touch with them and it's wonderful to see not only being in touch with them but even helping people and gets helped and learns from each other,” he says.

COVID-19 is kind of a global threat 

Ronald presents his views, “Basically if you look at the healthcare industry, there were a lot of pandemics, which happened over a period of time. So this COVID-19 is kind of a global threat and so everyone is on the same platform. I think that is what is basically causing a lot of brand positioning of COVID-19. But if you look at the other pandemics that we have handled in the past, each and every different area, like flu, fevers, and so on, this has over a period of time allowed people to understand how to control things and move forward. And I think we have right now are moving forward and the market is opening up. And people have understood the precautions, symptom-based, and the acquiring patterns of this disease and they have got used to it. And I think people will just start moving on. So I think most of us have really gone ahead of this and I think over a period of time, we all will look at another challenge in the coming years. So I think that’s the new norm now. Also, a lot of things have changed now like we all have been washing our hands more, it has been an eye-opener for everyone, including the children and elderly. And even the digital spaces opened up now artificial intelligence will open up and then we'll have robotics coming in place. So I think it's a way forward that we're all going through. And I think we should take it with a pinch of salt and go ahead and conquer things and make life better for everyone,” he says.

(Edited by Rabia Mistry Mulla)