Donation a great way of giving back to society

​Vijayawada: “There are lot of philanthropists in the region but the only thing is that you need to show them the cause and let them see that you are investing the donations in righteous way,” said heart transplant specialist and cardiothoracic surgeon A Gopala Krishna Gokhale, known as Gokhale, during his interaction with ‘The Hans India’.

Says Dr Gokhale who elevated Guntur govt hospital image

He is in the city to talk about the first ever heart transplantation in the Telugu States performed successfully at a government hospital. Gokhale who performed heart transplantation at Guntur’s Government General Hospital along with his team is overwhelmed by the response to the surgery.

“It is an achievement in itself and is a matter of pride that we could perform a complex transplant in a government hospital with best of infrastructure on par with any corporate hospital,” Dr Gokhale said. “We have got world-class equipment in the Guntur hospital, which is procured through funds from the alumni.

For example, 3D Intra operation TEE machine is not available in any private hospital but is at the GGH. Portable RO machine for dialysis is a device that is rarely equipped with many of the corporate sector hospitals in AP and Telangana. There is best of the infrastructure and commitment towards giving back to the institution we studied and people is what it takes to make things like this happen often and become regular,” said Dr Gokhale who is renowned for heart transplantation with high success rate.

“Intentions, passionate team and equipment should all come together for successful results. We are looking forward to seeing more number of surgeons to come forward and carry out the similar model to enhance the standard of medicine and treatment in government hospitals across the State,” Dr Gokhale said.

He said, “There are 197 heart operations performed at the Guntur’s hospital with a success rate of 97 per cent. Every month, donations pool up to Rs 4 lakh. For the transplantation that was carried out on the patient, Rs 7.5 lakh came in as donations. People are ready to help and this is an effective way of giving back to society. Number of organ donations is being made.

The government, if comes forward with a little more help could strengthen the system,” said he. Dr Gokhale said that earlier, people wouldn’t believe of surgeries at the government hospital. “But, we aced it and performed many successful surgeries even on a heart. With support from the government, replication of the technology and infrastructure at all the government hospitals, there could be a lot of change in the mindset of people which not only impacts their opinions on treatment at GGHs but also strengthens the system.

This particular model has to be followed and taken forward,” opined Gokhale who supported State government’s initiative on implementing PPP mode to better facilities at the GGH. “The PPP model will work well and it has got a great way to go forward. This is nothing like privatising government hospitals.

The remuneration surgeons receive at the corporate institutions cannot be matched by the government’s scale of payment. With an infrastructure of the government, services of the specialists with a support of philanthropists will make PPP model a great success. A transplant costs anything about Rs 20 lakh in a corporate sector but we can perform it at the best price in government hospitals as a gesture of giving back to society.”