Dr Manjunath served as Jayadeva Hospital's director for 16 years and elevated it to nothing less than a private hospital. He shares tips to government institutions on how to improve and make it on par with private hospitals.
Published Aug 13, 2024 | 11:00 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 13, 2024 | 11:00 AM
Dr CN Manjunath (right) and Dr Nageshwar Reddy at the Dakshin Healthcare Summit.
In 2015, Dr CN Manjunath was honoured with the Padma Shri for his contribution to Indian medicine. In the Lok Sabha polls this year, he won the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha seat with almost 11 lakh votes.
Dr Manjunath, who served as director of the government-run Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research in Bengaluru, spoke at the Dakshin Healthcare Summit organised by South First and TV9 Network in Hyderabad, explaining how he managed to transform a public hospital into a sought-after institution trusted by the wealthy too for the treatment of heart ailments.
“Today, nearly 35 percent of healthcare services are provided by the public sector; 65 percent is by the private sector. It is important to change public health institutions holistically – it is not enough to provide good buildings and infrastructure, several other things have to be considered, he said, speaking on “Improving public health systems and the role of private healthcare.”
Leadership, the doctor said, is the cornerstone of any successful transformation. It is of utmost importance to manage people and create an environment where they feel valued and can realize their true potential.
“In our government hospitals, the biggest challenge is on the infrastructure side. Secondly, change is resisted and there is usually a lot of inertia. Managing people is one of the biggest tasks, because our diverse nation brings together people of different cultures and mindsets. To bring a corporate culture to the government set-up, the leadership is what matters; that ability to take the whole team along.”
Leadership involves fostering a culture of ownership among the staff, allowing space for individual growth, and ensuring non-interference from external entities. “Non-interference is one of the biggest incentives for the growth of an organisation,” he said, underlining the importance of autonomy in decision-making.
Although there is a need for good quality infrastructure, Dr Manjunath pointed out that the focus should also be on ensuring timely recruitment and creating the necessary posts for the proper functioning of the hospital. The focus, in the government system, is on construction, he said.
“There has to be a transition from construction to the creation of posts, from the creation of posts to recruitment. Yes, fantastic physical structures will come, but where are the posts? This is where we have to really balance,” he said.
In his time at Jayadeva Hospital, he explained that he worked in partnership with the private sector, and resources could be leveraged from charitable organisations to support treatment.
Innovative schemes could be introduced to reward performance, the doctor said, giving an example of a scheme introduced in 2007 at Jayadeva Hospital to prevent brain drain among faculty. The scheme was based on performance, productivity, and punctuality. Despite facing opposition, he said he successfully implemented it, ensuring that it was funded through internal resources rather than government grants.
Dr Manjunath said promotion of those deserving, and creating new posts in a timely manner were necessary for maintaining staff morale. Dr Manjunath explained that while he was the director at Jayadeva Hospital, some deserving staff were granted promotion ahead of the date when it fell due, keeping the workforce committed and motivated.
Dr Manjunath said the public perception of a government hospital is of a service meant exclusively for the poor, for those who cannot afford treatment in the private sector. In his time at Jayadeval Hospital, he said, a special ward and a deluxe ward were created, as also a single-window health check-up area.
“I created a system where it’s also a hospital for the rich, the elite class, and VIPs. That served as a cross-subsidy. We charged groups that could afford to pay, and that served as a cross-subsidy, helping poor people with free treatment,” Dr Manjunath said
A corpus fund was set up to cater to the needs of those struggling to pay bills. “When I took over, it was about ₹5 lakh. When I left the institution, it was ₹150 crore. A ₹150-crore poor patient corpus fund was built, and the interest generated was spent on the poor people. I made sure that nobody went untreated for want of money. During my tenure, eight lakh procedures were conducted, including open-heart surgeries and cath lab interventions,” he said.
Dr Manjunath remembered that when he took charge as director at Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences in 2006, the bed strength was 300. “Today, we have reached 2,000 cardiac beds, exclusively for cardiac care. Nowhere in India do we have a cardiac institute with 2,000 cardiac beds.”
Dr Manjunath explained that the rules under the current system can disincentivise good practitioners of medicine, and amendments must be considered where necessary.
“We were the first institution in the country to introduce an incentive scheme to prevent brain drain among the faculty in 2007. Today, the hospital has 125 cardiologists, 60 cardiac surgeons, and 50 cardiac anesthetists. We have 1,500 to 2,000 out-patients daily, and we have to conduct 900 echocardiograms, and perform 200 angioplasties daily,” he said.
(Edited by Rosamma Thomas)
(South First is now on WhatsApp and Telegram)
