How a Cardiac Surgeon is All Set to Lead the Best in Oncology & Organ Transplant
His pioneering work in Cardiac Surgery and entrepreneurship efforts over the years has won many plaudits and global recognition for Dr. Satyajit Bose.
Andal is a tiny census town in Paschim Bardhaman district of West Bengal. Never heard of it? Well, you will, soon. Why? Because it is going to have one of the most futuristic Cancer, Organ Transplant Super speciality Hospitals in the country. Something that is modelled on the iconic Hospitals in the US and UK.
But why Andal? A small town tucked away in Bengal? Well, to look for that answer you’ll have to go a bit deeper. You’ll have to start with the story of Dr. Satyajit Bose, the mastermind behind this project, and understand why he believes that the future of healthcare is not just relegated to the cities, it needs to find its real purpose in the hinterlands where people have next to nothing when it comes to accessing a proper healthcare infrastructure.
Dr. Satyajit Bose worked hard in his early years to get into the best medical college in Kolkata. Secured a post-graduation in surgery and post-doctoral degree in Cardiac Surgery. Then dived into a phase where he could develop his craft as a surgeon by assisting, observing, volunteering at every opportunity he got. There was this intense urge to push himself harder with every passing day, almost tirelessly. His surgical journey took him to various hospitals in India – The famous Breach Candy Hospital & Bombay Hospital in Mumbai, B. M. Birla Heart Centre and subsequently Apollo Hospital in Kolkata, where he was given the role of the Chief Cardiac Surgeon. This rise was meteoric.
And somewhere Bose, now the renowned Dr. Satyajit Bose, realised
something was amiss. Something made him restless.
He realised he was doing surgeries for the rich and privileged. The ones who wouldn’t flinch at spending huge amounts to money to get the best doctors at their disposal. But he realised soon that there’s a large section of the society, people below the poverty line, the middle class living in the non-metropolitan areas, who still can’t afford to access doctors and treatment that they need.
He started doing free heart camps in various parts of Eastern India, the first baby step towards what would finally become his true calling. He started opening up his access to people who never had any access to specialist Doctors like him. He realised that there is a giant gap. And people were losing lives unnecessarily. Cardiac care was just one thing. As a heart surgeon he saw millions of other things that were becoming fatal. This, kept him restless and edgy. He had to find a way to cure these people. Solve their problems.He quit his secure job at Apollo and decided to set up the first super specialty tertiary care hospital outside the city limits of Kolkata, a first in the Eastern part of India. He found a group of likeminded people in Durgapur, people like Tarun Bhattacharya, Samit Chatterjee and Siddhartha Banerjee, who shared the same passion and interest towards this and forged a partnership that became the foundation of The Mission Hospital, Durgapur.
Today, The Mission Hospital, Durgapur is now a 550 bed, NABH accredited hospital, catering to people across Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, North Eastern States, Sikkim, Nepal and has even extended to SAARC countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Afghanistan, etc. It’s ranked as the 4th best Cardiac hospital in India. But this was just the tip of the iceberg for Dr. Satyajit Bose. Soon, he realised that there was a lacuna in the treatment of eye problems. A lot of patients were travelling to the southern part of India for complex problems of the eye. Most centres in Eastern India were local ophthalmologist led small set ups with primary focus on a basic service like Cataract. Now, the Cardiac Surgeon pushed beyond his domain of expertise and started acquiring the best talent and set up a real Super-specialty Eye Hospital, which is a final destination for all complex Eye problems. He christened it as Dvita Eye Hospital, and opened access to people all across the Eastern part of India. In just about a year, Dvita has become equipped to offer treatments that can give the best of eye centres in the country a run for its money and has become the 10th best Eye Hospital in India. It already has cured 60000 patients, done more than 5000 surgeries and run more than a 100 free camps.
The mission to bring the best of healthcare to the doorstep of everyone who needs it, is the engine that runs the initiatives that Dr. Bose embarks on. Based on the same philosophy, he initiated the construction of a state of the art Cancer and Organ transplantation unit spread across a 10 acre plot in Andal at the Bengal Aerotropolis area in Kazi Nazrul Airport, Durgapur - A one-of-a-kind oncology care centre modelled on international standards for the people of the entire country. He went across all the best hospitals in the world and US to understand what it takes to build a large facility like the hospital he is building at Andal. And since then there has been no holds barred. He is ensuring that this Cancer hospital and organ transplant unit has nothing but the best of equipments and facilities that are available globally in super speciality outfits and has deployed a team of experts to bring this dream alive.
Dr. Bose has dedicated his life towards a service and he continues to build on it. Even if it makes him push beyond the realms of his own expertise as a Cardiac Surgeon. For a country that lacks access to the basic healthcare needs, especially for the larger population residing beyond cities and the metropolis, Dr. Bose is literally like a messiah - A man who is fuelled by his vision to reach out to the larger community, diagnose their ailments, give proper medical and surgical care and alleviate suffering from their lives.
Dr. Bose has dedicated his life towards a service and he continues to build on it. Even if it makes him push beyond the realms of his own expertise as a Cardiac Surgeon. For a country that lacks access to the basic healthcare needs, especially for the larger population residing beyond cities and the metropolis.