SETTING NEW TRENDS IN QUALITY CARE AND AFFORDABLE CURE 

KG Hospital in Coimbatore is blending hi-tech and humane-ness to introduce a new language of accessible and affordable healthcare – both in India and globally.

“When we treat a patient, we treat the entire family” 

When Dr G. Bakthavathsalam utters these words, the visionary Chairman of Coimbatore’s KG Hospital, instantly and accurately captures the noble mission of the institution : That of delivering ‘Advanced Healthcare at Affordable Cost.” The focus is in the right spot: Affordability, after all, is the biggest deterrent for millions of families in India when it comes to providing the right medical treatment to near and dear ones. The KG hospital and Postgraduate Medical Institute (KGH) has been filling this gaping lacuna in India’s healthcare terrain since its inception. To this day, KGH strives to uphold this vision by staying at the cutting edge of medicine while maintaining a charitable outlook and providing care to all classes of society.

MEET KGH - THE HOSPITAL WITH A HEART  

KG Hospital, run by K.Govindaswamy Naidu Medical Trust, was founded in 1974 by 'Dharmaveera' K.Govindaswamy Naidu, a leading industrialist and a philanthropist from Annur village in Coimbatore district. Today, the K.Govindaswamy Naidu Medical Trust, a not-for-profit charity organization, is part of the $ 150-million KG Group of Companies. The Managing Trustee and Chairman of KG Hospital, Dr G.Bakthavathsalam (MS, FICS, FCCP, FAMS), is the recipient of many coveted awards, including Padma Shri Award from the President of India and Dr B.C.Roy Award from the Prime Minister of India.

Started as a 10-bed hospital, the Hospital is today a multi-super specialty high-tech ‘centre of excellence’, offering a variety of healthcare services. At last count, it had on its rolls 250 highly qualified and experienced doctors, along with a sturdy team of 800 well trained nurses and para-medical staff. Some of the specialities areas of KGH – such as the KG Heart Centre & Hospital, for instance – is regarded one of the best in its class and category in the country.  

In the hospital’s palette of advanced services lie MICS (Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery), Emergency & Trauma Care, CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting), Kidney & Liver Transplantation, Orthopaedic & Joint replacement, Interventional Radiology, Laser Eye Surgery and  Regional Blood Bank, together with critical and thoughtful gestures such as ‘Reach KGH in 3 hours’ for stroke cases. 
 
The Wellness Centre at KG hospital provides a wide plethora of checkup services for women, cardiac, diabetes, corporate, global and more. 

In keeping with emerging trends of a new era, the KG Hospital's TeleHealth division allows patients to connect with expert doctors from the comfort of their home through convenient video consultations. KG Hospital has also set up a 100 bed hospital away from the main campus to treat covid-19 patients during this pandemic – agile responses to changing realities such as this – which are aimed at serving the community better – is signature trait at KGH. 

Its blend of world class quality, best-in-class technology and a selfless crew of veteran professionals also makes KG hospital a preferred destination of medical tourism internationally.

HI-TECH AT HEART  

KG Hospital is today one of the finest medical centres in the country, sporting an entirely self-contained healthcare institute with some of the most sophisticated equipment available in the world. The core of the KGH engine runs on state-of-the-art technologies. KGH was the first hospital in Asia to install the 128 slice cardiac CT scanner, the world’s first 4D ultrasound system with wireless transducers and many more. Other amenities offered include the latest in MRI, Neuro-Navigation System, Digital Thermogram, Painless Mammogram, Cath Lab, Sleep Lab and Bone Densitometry, to mention some.

FIRST AMONGST EQUALS

In many ways a pioneer in the region, KG hospital sports several industry ‘Firsts’: It is the first and only institution of Coimbatore performing minimally invasive heart surgeries, the only insitution in TamilNadu currently performing MICS for triple vessel diseases and the first in India to conduct Awake Open heart surgery. 

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu inaugurated the hospital’s free heart surgery program & Dr APJ Abdul Kalam inaugurated the “Kalam - KG Little Hearts Foundation”. Through these initiatives, the hospital has performed more than 2000 heart surgeries free of cost
 

There are several other feathers in the KGH cap, of course. The institution has performed a rare heart surgery for the first time in medical history on a poor child with five heart defects, conducted kidney transplantation three times on a soldier, performed heart surgery on a couple together (at the same time), performed Stem Cell transplantation on 70 year old women, done painless keyhole heart surgery and performed dialysis on a two day old baby (again a first in the country).
 

HEALTHCARE FOR A CAUSE 

KGH’s social mission of making ‘Healthcare For All’ a reality by making it truly accessible and affordable finds manifestation in multiple ways. Free heart surgeries, heart surgeries at subsidized rates, operations, health screenings, camps, checkups and donations for disasters (such as war, fire, floods, cyclones and earthquakes) are glowing testimony of its strong social conscience. The hospital has performed more than INR 350 crores worth of charitable initiatives.

Chairman Dr G Bakthavathsalam is also a strong promoter of preventive healthcare through TV Programs, Youtube videos and lectures at schools, colleges and companies. Recently, his video “Loading Dose for heart attack”, in which he talks about the three drugs one must keep in handy during a heart attack, was watched by millions of people all over the world.
 

QUALITY ABOVE ALL 

At KGH, an unshakeable commitment to the highest yardsticks of quality runs as a common thread and theme across the institution’s many initiatives. KG Hospital has received quality accreditation from the NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers) of Quality Council of India, New Delhi as well as from the NBE accreditation from NBE.

It is the first hospital in this part of the country to receive the "Five Star Award" from the Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI) for practicing the "5S" concept. Other honours bestowed on this institution include the Scroll of Honour 2011 award for successfully running DNB Programme, the Award of Excellence in teaching for DNB Programme and Pro-Life Award by Life for All and Life International, USA.

The Hospital is a beneficiary of the Prime Minister's Relief Fund and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Relief Fund for providing medical care to the poorer sections of the society. It is recognized under the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme for treating people below the poverty line. That apart, KG Hospital is a recognized Designated Blood Bank for nearly 200 hospitals located in Coimbatore and the adjoining areas. 

On the learning and education front, KGH is recognized as an Examination Centre by Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (United Kingdom) for the purposes of conducting the MRCS Examination. It is also recognised by Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) to conduct B.Sc. MIT and MLT courses under Distance Education programmes

SPEARHEADING KNOWLEDGE LEADERSHIP 

KGH is also a reputed epicentre of knowledge, research, training and development. The hospital has filed for 2 IPR patents in 2020 alone and continues to strive to push the boundaries of medicine through research. The KG College of Health Sciences is run by the K. Govindaswamy Naidu Medical Trust of Coimbatore, and is affiliated to both Dr.MGR Medical University, Chennai as well as the Directorate of Medical Education, Kilpauk, Chennai. KG College of Health Sciences was founded on a profound vision : To inspire unmatched value by ushering new levels of proficiency, dedication and leadership to the healthcare fraternity specifically, and to communities at large. In the present day, ruddered by the dynamic vision of Dr G. Bakthavathsalam, the institution runs several schools and initiatives under its aegis catering to disciplines such as nursing, physiotherapy and allied sciences. 

The KG Foundation, on its part, regularly stokes the spirit of excellence within the community by awarding outstanding performances by medical professionals, teachers and leaders who are making a difference in society with their ideas and actions. Some notable award properties of the institution are the ‘Dynamic Indian of the Decade’ (honouring souls who have risen above the ordinary to make an extra-ordinary contribution to the nation), ‘Teacher of Excellence’ and ‘Doctor of Excellence’. 

Some of the illustrious recipients of the KG Foundation Awards are:  
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Mr Nandan Nilenkeni (Infosys), Dr KJ Yesudas (Singer), Justice AR Lakshmanan, Mr N Ram (The Hindu), Dr Christian Barnard (World’s first heart transplant surgeon), Dr Prathap Reddy(Apollo Hospitals), Dr Ramakanta Panda (Asian Heart Institute), Dr Nageshwar Reddy (AIG Hospitals), Dr Giridhar Gyani (AHPI)
 

AN EXPERIENCE TO REMEMBER 

Dedication and devotion to each patient makes a visit to the hospital hard to forget. The former president of India (and Bharat Ratna) Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam has highlighted the excellent work done by KGH in his book India 2020.

“With the help of thousands of my colleagues and dozens of my family members, we have grown phenomenally. As a proud KGian, we will continue to deliver quality, timely and selfless healthcare service in the future as well”, wraps up Chairman Dr G. Bakthavathsalam.