Dr. L. H. Hiranandani Hospital – Our pride, our Family.

Dr. L. H. Hiranandani Hospital, Powai is not just another corporate hospital, it is an expression, a culture in itself, an emotion, a daily celebration of togetherness and a family of like minded people committed to providing the best, ethical and quality care to all our patients. I write this not as an employee of the hospital but as a neutral observer who in the last 11 months of being part of this great organization has first hand seen the hard work and sacrifice people do to excel at the job allotted to each of us. This hierarchy includes the top management, to the Administrative staff, the consultants, junior doctors, the nurses, executives, housekeeping, security staff, etc. who have always gone the extra mile with their commitment and service to help our patients in need. 

Today, this family of ours is under attack. It has fallen victim to forgery and cheating by a select few who for us were just another unsuspecting patients in distress with their long standing illness wanting a permanent solution in the form of a kidney transplant. A couple got admitted with all legal documents needed to carry out the transplant, little did we know that the documents including the marriage certificate, Adhar card, Pan card, Ration card, etc which were submitted were all fake. The expertise of the gang operating the racket at making these forged documents was so good that it was impossible for anyone, our ethics committee, the government doctor who gave the go ahead for the transplant, and even the criminal lawyer now investigating the case to point out any discrepancies in the documents until the beans were spilled by one among the gang member when the deal went wrong in terms of money sharing. 

Yes, there was a hospital insider involved. There is not denying the fact that Nilesh Kamble who was working as the Medical Social Worker and Transplant Coordinator in the hospital for the last few years was part of the racket, something that went unnoticed considering his trusted conduct at the organization. One man’s greed has led to an avalanche of problems and allegations against the organization which will leave a life time of scar on this glorious hospital, something that will surely heal but will take years to come to terms with. 

The head of this family, our beloved and highly respected CEO Dr. Sujit Chatterjee, our Medical Director Dr. Anurag Naik (Both are pass outs from the prestigious Armed Force Medical College, Pune and have served the country for more than 20-25 years, even in times of wars), and our fellow doctor colleagues have been arrested and are accused of being part of this racket for monetary gains!! The digital and print media has gone berserk targeting the hospital and its doctors every single day with their front page coverage of their cheap tactics, false allegations, non-existent sources, planted and sold statement providers, etc by twisting the facts and evidence just to gain their TRPs and sensationalize their own channels and newspapers. It boils our blood and makes us extremely angry to see cheap headlines like “Hiranandani k Jallad” for our colleagues who are being falsely and deliberately victimized for reasons which will get clear as the investigation progresses. The only reason I kept quite till now was because I thought it would be in the best interest of the organization to not express my anger and frustration against the ‘SYSTEM’ which will only lead to more controversy on social media with people these days looking for an opportunity to fan a fire. 

The judgment today to send our fellow doctor colleagues into judicial custody till 26th August and cancel their license to practice medicine has wrecked and shaken us all to the core. There is no denying the fact that Doctors and hospitals have now become easy targets to rage up a controversy, a scrape goat which is evident from the recent incidents of doctors being beaten up or even shot dead or stabbed, punished and sued for deficiency of service, while we become mere spectators and participants for similar wrongful things in all other streams and industries.

 
It is high time the medical fraternity is urged to stand up together and raise their voice in support of their fellow colleagues to show solidarity and togetherness against this injustice of the so called ‘system’ that has plagued this noble profession. 

Few questions still continue bother me. 

(1) Why is the Indian law so weak that people who were arrested 7 years back for similar crime were out and openly carrying out their routine modus operandi?
(2) Why are the real culprits, the recipient, the donor (fake wife), our medical social worker, the mediators of the gang out on bail and our innocent doctor colleagues behind bars? 

(3) Why has the government doctor who had verified the documents himself first and had given go ahead for the transplant not even mentioned about in the police enquiry and no action has been taken by the DHS against him? 

(4) If 95 such cases were reported to have been carried out in the city in the last few years and only 4 were alleged to have happened at Hiranandani Hospital, why the police has not investigated the remaining 91 cases so far? Are they scared that they will open up a Pandora box where most corporate and government hospitals across the city, state and the country will be found to have flouted norms and will be party to the crime? 

(5) We doctors after dedicating our years into medical studies are trained to treat patients; it is not possible for us to differentiate faked documents or to establish if donor and recipient are faking a relationship. How can the government body expect us to become an investigating agency? 

All we at the hospital can now do is pray and hope for the earliest return of not a CEO, a Medical Director or Consultant doctors but FAMILY MEMBERS of this organization, a hospital we all take pride in being a part of. We will not surrender to this injustice, give up or lose hope, we will hold our heads held high and come out even stronger. Yes, these are difficult and testing times for us, but the truth will prevail. 

URGING ALL OF YOU TO NOT JUST LIKE AND COMMENT BUT PLEASE HELP SHARE IT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.