CHENNAI: Born in a family of engineers and art students, Dr CJ Vetrievel paved the way to a new career when he decided to foray into medicine. Having a seat at the Stanley Medical College on merit was a gateway to big changes regarding accessibility and affordability that he brought in with Be Well Hospitals. Now, the multispeciality hospitals are announcing further expansion in the state and entry into Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh with their plans to provide higher secondary health care.
“Though the private sector is the leading health care provider, the major players exist only at the tertiary level and major cities. There is a clear need for a trusted brand offering higher secondary care which people could use as a first port of call rather than walking into tertiary hospitals for primary and secondary ailments,” he explains, letting us in on his professional takes and behind-the-scenes of his personal interests.
Excerpts follow:
Could you talk about the secondary healthcare model on which you are currently working?
The healthcare model we are focussing on is high-end secondary. This, along with the complete digital network we will be connecting it to, will reach out to the masses. So, we’ll have hospitals across the place, closer to the people, so everybody will have a digital record. This will help us create preventive programmes. We will get the demographics and plan intervention on the community level to reduce morbidity and mortality.
You have travelled extensively across the globe for training. What was that experience like for you?
It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience when it comes to the academic aspect of it. I have travelled to places like Australia, Switzerland, Ireland, the Maldives and Germany. It was very structured and meticulous and I learnt a lot about standards, how things should be done and in what way. Anything that we have to do effectively and efficiently…it should be a system-driven organisation. That is the experience that I gained.
Outside your practice, what did you enjoy about travelling? What country would you say was your favourite to visit?
The lifestyle and culture were very different, and obviously, food as well. It was a great experience to meet various people and see how they interact, how they think about life. I really enjoyed meeting people with different mindsets and getting to know them. I would say Ireland was my favourite to be in. I am so fond of Ireland probably because the consultancy I met there included me in everything, and overall, the people were very friendly. In 1993-96, you could identify that foreigners like Indians and Pakistanis would more or less be doctors. Only recently, there are many software people there but those days, if an Irish person came across us, they recognised us as doctors and we got that respect. It was very warm and great!
How do you like to unwind after a tough day at work?
I’m a bit of a fitness guy. Something else I am interested in is music. Reading books is another major thing, which I tend to do as much as possible.
What life lessons has establishing and growing Be Well taught you?
I think about time, for sure. The number of hours I put into work is higher than the number of hours I put into my family (life). That is something that I’m trying to balance now. Another lesson would be…anything is doable as long as you pursue it strongly. Various opportunities came our way but I didn’t believe that (taking it up) was the right thing. Keep doing the right thing and automatically things will fall in place.
Would you say that you achieved what you wanted to?
No! I think we have just started the journey. If every district headquarter in India could accommodate a Be Well hospital, that would be an achievement… In terms of what we would do by establishing 500 hospitals across India…the whole healthcare seeking behaviour would change. People would go to Be Well and that would mean 1/3 cost reduction. We’d have a large network, followed by disease management programmes at the primary care level that would really improve the quality of life of people.