NEWSMAKER: Pratap C Reddy

A doctor and a businessman

Pratap C Reddy has never been one to let anything get in the way of drawing the best talent to his hospitals, not even controversy.

So it was no surprise that Naresh Trehan should join Apollo Hospitals, almost immediately after his controversial exit from Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre. But the incident certainly underlines the clout Reddy and his Apollo Hospitals have come to acquire in the Indian healthcare sector.

For a doctor who used to earn Rs 100 a day through private practice in the early Eighties, it is no mean achievement to have set up India's first hospitals group, which currently has 26 centres with a combined turnover of over Rs 700 crore.

After pursuing medicine for almost a decade in the US, Apollo Hospitals group chairman, Pratap C Reddy, came to India in the late Seventies and started his practice in Chennai.

The story goes that he got the idea of establishing Apollo Hospitals when he lost a patient who could not make it to Texas for an open-heart surgery.

Whatever may be the inspiration, Reddy succeeded in setting up the first centre of Apollo Hospitals in Chennai in 1983. And he has never looked back since. Controversies surrounding his association with godman Chandraswami or with regard to the treatment of Rahul Mahajan have had no bearing on his group's growth.

Born into an agricultural family in Andhra Pradesh, Reddy is also known for his political connections. Perhaps, the difficulties he faced in setting up his first hospital led him to cultivate politicians.

Apparently, Reddy was dismayed to find that banks would not lend to hospitals in the early Eighties. That made him meet people in power to amend funding legislations so financial institutions would consider hospitals. Soon after, he was able to secure loans from a consortium of Indian banks.

Having steered the group to a number of locations in India, Reddy is now spreading his hospitals to other parts of Asia. The group opened its first clinic in 1999 and is coming up with projects in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Oman.

His latest initiatives are a "Med Varsity", a virtual medical university providing complete access to experts in the field of medicare anywhere in the world, and "MEDNET" hospital management systems. According to Reddy, both the initiatives are expected to transform the healthcare sector in India.

Reddy's blueprint for growth includes setting up many rural hospitals. He is now looking at secondary health centres in semi-urban and smaller cities and has already identified 23 sites for the purpose. He has also worked on broad-basing the scope of medical insurance.

Reddy believes that India doctors have not got their true entitlement. "There is no conflict of interest in [Trehan] pursuing the Medicity project and partnering with Apollo," he dismisses.

Reddy's goal is to bring international standards medical care based to the country. And he seems to have achieved it.