Many years ago, when I worked at Max Healthcare, I met an elderly man whose grand daughter had had a major cardiac surgery and was admitted in the hospital. The child was on her way to recovery and the old man was profoundly grateful to Dr. Anil Bhan, who had operated on the child. The old man narrated a very interesting tale.

The old man and his wife lived in Roorkee, a University town about 150 miles from Delhi. His son worked in a nationalised bank in Delhi and he had two grand children, twins as a matter of fact, a grand daughter and a grand son. The children now aged 11 years lived apart, the son in Delhi with his parents and the daughter with them in Roorkee.  The daughter from the time of her birth had been a sickly child and had required heart surgery, when she was 9 months old. Being a girl child and that too a sick one, her parents had entrusted her care to the old couple and they had brought her up. Clearly, the old man and his wife were extremely attached with this child and she was the apple of their eyes.

The child too enjoyed living with her grand parents and they clearly doted on her. They ensured that she received the best medical care and would regularly bring her over to AIIMS, the premier medical institute in Delhi for regular monitoring and check ups. About two years ago, when the child was 9, they had noticed that she would become breathless after a little exertion. Initially they did not worry too much, however things grew steadily worse and they became quite alarmed and brought her to Delhi.

The paediatric cardiologist at AIIMS, who has been taking care of the child in all these years told them that the child needed another surgery, an extremely rare and very risky procedure and she needed it fast. They were also told that without the surgery the prognosis was very poor. Dr. Anil Bhan, who was the paediatric surgeon who had operated on her as a eight month old infant had now moved to Max as their chief of cardiac surgery.

The old couple brought the child to Dr. Bhan, who examined her carefully and pronounced that while the surgery was extremely rare and very risky he was willing to do his best. The old couple let things in the hands of Dr. Bhan and prayed to the almighty to save their grand daughter. Dr. Bhan operated on the child and she was wheeled into the Paediatric ICU after the surgery. Soon post surgical complications set in and hopes of her survival dimmed. Dr. Bhan, however approached the old couple again and requested permission to try surgery once again. The old couple with nothing to lose, told him to go ahead.

The child was again wheeled into the OR and Dr. Bhan and his team once again made a heroic attempt to save her life. She survived the surgery and spent the next 9 days in the ICU under the watch of some very dedicated doctors. The child was than shifted to a ward and when I met the old man, he was preparing for her discharge from the hospital.

The gratitude this man had for Dr. Bhan and his team, the ICU staff and for the hospital was immense. He showed me a poem he had composed in Dr. Bhan’s honour. He could not help narrate the wonderful things that happened to him in the hospital, about the extraordinary skills of the doctors, their commitment and their indomitable spirit in not giving up on them even in the face of unbelievably daunting odds.

There can be no greater hospital marketing tool than a powerful and a compelling story narrated by the patient or a patient attendant about his experiences in the hospital.

PS: Dr. Bhan and his team has since moved to Batra Hospital in New Delhi