Meenakshi Mission Hospital - Madurai

What started with 100 beds and 20 doctors in 1990 has become one of the largest hospitals in Tamil Nadu with 600 beds and 210 doctors. No man is too poor to afford quality healthcare—this is the fundamental principle under which Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre (MMHRC) functions, with its eyes firmly set at the bottom of the pyramid. The revenue in the first year of operations was Rs 4.80 crore which has grown to Rs 58.31 crore with an average turnover of Rs 27 crore. The Hospital attained breakeven in five years after operations. The Hospital has been adding speciality divisions every year.Apart from free surgery, medicines, food and accommodation for the child and one attender are being given.

True to its mission and social commitment, MMHRC has extended its wings to provide treatment to the poor and needy in Tamil Nadu. In collaboration with the district authorities of Tirunelveli and Tuticorin, and the grant support of The Smile Train USA, MMHRC made the districts free from cleft lip/palette problems and received citation from the respective collectors. "We collaborated with The Smile Train, USA and performed more than 2,000 quality corrective surgeries for cleft lip/palate free of cost. In recognition of the services The Smile Train, USA has awarded a citation to Dr S Gurushankar, Vice Chairman, in New York," informs Dr N Sethuraman, Chairman.

MMHRC played a significant role in helping the tsunami victims, for which it received international appreciation. "In recognition of humanitarian services rendered by MMHRC in treating the injuries and illness of the tsunami victims free of cost, MMHRC was awarded a citation, in collaboration with the Direct Relief International (DRI), USA," adds Dr Sethuraman. To implement advanced diagnostic procedures and specialist medical consultancy from internationally renowned medical experts, application specialists and IT experts to patients even in remote areas of Tamil Nadu, "we were donated Mobile CT Imaging Unit along with Navistar Tractor Unit from DRI," says Dr Sethuraman.

It has also set up health centres in remote village areas. "Five peripheral health centres are maintained by MMHRC in collaboration with the village improvement committee, instituted with the help of social and health workers. Community health services are offered by these centres to benefit the villagers," states Dr Sethuraman.

MMHRC is fully committed to support and carry out Government programmes like Blindness Control Society, family planning, HIV/AIDS control. It is the also the only Hospital which treats AIDS patients totally free of cost in a special Mother Theresa Ward, a 10-bed clinic that provides free service on bed, drugs, treatment, food and around-the-clock nursing services. Under the Free Meals Scheme, it is providing free food to the poor and cancer patients, and their attending family members since 1991. The MMHRC Camila's Children Cancer Fund provides free treatment for poor children affected by cancer. Under its Save the Little Hearts Scheme (SLHS), it treats congenital defects at half the price. Under this scheme the Hospital has waived its fees performing the correction for Rs 45,000.

Promoting MMHRC

Setting aside its social responsibilities it does not want to forget that it's a corporate Hospital here to make money. Hence, it has adopted a few corporate schemes to attract even foreign patients.

"More than 500 patients have come to us from Maldives, Sri Lanka, Dubai, UAE, Kenya for medical treatment and follow up," updates Dr Sethuraman. Special innovative schemes include the treatment, medicine and sightseeing charges. "The food, accommodation and travel are taken care of by the Hospital and the increasing response from the patients encourages the Hospital to expand the programme," says Dr Sethuraman. Also, many corporates have tied up with the Hospital for the treatment of employees.

About 60 companies are in corporate tie-ups with MMHRC with 8,000 corporate patients benefiting every year. It has also the Ex-service Men Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS). "MMHRC is the only approved Hospital for treating ex-servicemen in Southern Tamil Nadu and 2,000 ex-servicemen have been benefited by this scheme," says Dr Sethuraman.

It is now targeting the North-east and Andaman markets. Thousands of people from Kolkata and surrounding areas come to Tamil Nadu for the treatment of heart diseases, kidney problems, neuro disorders and ortho disabilities. So it conducts speciality camps at various locations in Calcutta at regular intervals. Apart from regular speciality camps at Andaman, there is an Information Centre maintained at Port Blair. MMHRC has impressively been able to penetrate all levels of healthcare delivery right from the bottom to the top. It is a fine example of how a hospital can do credible charity without compromising on the earnings. "Insurance is an upcoming field, hence we want to attract more patients from TPAs. Big corporates have planned to establish hospitals in Madurai like Reliance etc and the paying capacity of Madurai is also increasing. So, we plan to cover more corporate patients and attract more customers through foreign marketing," says the Chairman firmly.

Technological advances in Modern Medical Treatment in our Hospital.

1.Urinary Stones are being crushed and removed using shock waves without surgery by Lithotripter. (ESWL)

2.Patients who require dialysis can get it done in their homes itself without coming to the hospital and carry out the daily routines by the latest method of CAPD (Continuous Ambulatory Peritonial Dialysis)

3.Open Heart Surgery is generally being done in most of the Hospitals using Heart Lung machine with various problems attendant on this method. Our hospital has specialized in the latest “Beating Heart Surgery” method without using Heart Lung machine. (Off Pump Surgeries)

4.Early deduction of cancers will help to cure them and we have got equipments like SPECT CAMERA and GAMMA CAMERA which helps in early detection of cancers Brachytherapy is the treatment method for cancers, latest addition to our Oncology Department.

5.Total Replacement of joints as Hip and Knee in Orthopedics Department.

6.For Open Heart Surgery, the blood vessel from the lower limb is usually harvested by open surgery but in MMHRC, we are able to do Endoscopic Harvesting of the blood vessels by a very small opening in leg safely. So far more than 100 patients have been benefited by this method.

7.The Nuclear Medicine Department is very helpful to find out the functional status of various organs and systems.

8.Our Infertility Department has been helping many childless couples by latest Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART) as IVF (Invitro Fertilization) and ICSI.

9.Our Andrology Department is the best in South Tamilnadu in helping infertile and impotent men by enabling them beget children and cured of their erectile dysfunction.

Patients from various countries like Srilanka and Maldives prefer our hospital for their medical treatment since we are able to offer the best possible treatment for any disease comparable to any foreign country at a much cheaper cost.