At 50, when most people’s thoughts veer towards retirement, Dr Prathap Chandra Reddy decided it was time for revolution. The trajectory of that revolutionary fervour is deftly captured by well-known journalist and author, Pranay Gupte, in Healer: Dr Prathap Chandra Reddy and the Transformation of India, which traces in almost 600 pages the story of the renowned cardiologist who pioneered India’s professionally run private sector hospital system in 1983.
In the beginning came Apollo Hospitals Madras (now called Chennai), inaugurated by former President Giani Zail Singh on September 18, 1983. Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, was inaugurated in 1988. In the 30 years and more since the creation of the first Apollo Hospital, over 32 million patients have been treated at 50 odd Apollo hospitals, staffed by over 70,000 professionals. Today, Apollo Hospitals is widely viewed as an industry pioneer in several areas — heart, liver, bone marrow transplants, knee and hip replacement surgery and robotic surgery to name a few.
But how did it happen? How did Dr Reddy, who grew up in Aragonda, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, embark on a journey that led to such phenomenal success and made him a name within and outside India? Whatever be one’s view on the role of corporate hospitals in India, Gupte’s blend of anecdote, reportage, analysis and narrative keeps the reader engaged with this journey.
The book is filled with testimonies and photographs of the famous and the powerful who know Dr Reddy’s life and work. One glorious encomium comes from former US President Bill Clinton who applauds Apollo Telemedicine Services as a “very wonderful contribution to the health care of the people who live in rural villages”. Clinton hopes that “people all over the world will follow Dr Reddy’s lead, because if they do, the benefits of hi-tech medicine can go to everyone and not just to people who live in big cities.”
For me the really interesting bits related to how Dr Reddy overcame the seemingly insurmountable obstacles that came his way. “When I started work on this book, I had two key questions: What prompted this doctor who had studied in the best of colleges in India, trained in the best of institutions in England and the United States and upon returning to his motherland, developed a flourishing medical practice — to challenge the strong prevalent belief that advanced healthcare could only be in the government domain? And what gave him the strength to face all the difficulties and obstacles that were inevitable in attempting to make such a revolutionary change,” writes Gupte.
A review should not be a tell-all, leaving the reader so sated that s/he does not feel the need to check out the book. However, it is fair to share one of the many anecdotes in the book which reveal the tenacity of the man behind the legend. One day, Dr Reddy was at the office of a government official in New Delhi to discuss the purchase of the first ever CT (computed tomography) scanner in India. “Why do you want this technology?” the official said. Dr Reddy’s reply: “If your child had an accident, wouldn’t you want the very best treatment?”
This was not an isolated incident. For every one of the 370 pieces of medical equipment that Apollo Madras needed, Dr Reddy had to go through the same process. A dozen odd applications had to be filled and as many babus had to be met.
We learn that in those early days of Apollo, Dr Reddy had to spend every Thursday and Friday in New Delhi, for several weeks continuously, before he managed to get all the necessary clearances.
What makes Dr Reddy’s story truly remarkable is that he dared to dream of a world-class, multi-speciality private hospital at a time when few could imagine challenging government domination of the healthcare industry in the country.
When he returned to India in January 1970, the establishment of Apollo Hospitals may not have been among Dr Reddy’s goals. “His first goal was to create a first-rate cardiology practice in Madras. Apollo evolved from that practice, and out of the first Apollo hospitals emerged what is now a multi-billion dollar enterprise that includes hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, an insurance company and other businesses,” writes Gupte.
A chapter in the book titled “Making the Dream Happen” offers a wealth of insights into the galaxy of political luminaries who helped Dr Reddy realise his dreams.
But the book is not just about a doctor-entrepreneur, the founder and chairman of Apollo Hospitals, and his professional success. It is equally about Dr Reddy, the family man. There is a whole chapter and more on Sucharitha Reddy, his wife, whom Dr Reddy describes as the “best friend” he consults before taking any major decision and whose judgement he implicitly trusts. The book also lets us into the world of their four daughters — Preetha, Suneeta, Shobana and Sangita — who are all key executives at Apollo, and who have been lauded for their accomplishments.
Much of the material in Healer is drawn from the more than 200 first-hand interviews that the author conducted including those with Dr Reddy and his family. The end feels like the last page of a travelogue mapping the journey, not only of Apollo Hospitals and its creator, but also of an era in which India was transformed dramatically.
