I had written earlier about the way my Cardiologist colleague was treated. I too was treated in a similar manner but I do not want to make this an issue just to settle personal scores. They say power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That seems to be the reason why the hospital management is behaving in this manner. But they should also realise that politicians can turn any way they want, depending on their personal needs. As they say, politics is the last resort of the scoundrel. And money can vanish before one knows it. Look at the several scams that are going on. Many of these are in AP. To illustrate how power corrupts, let me narrate the story of a 15 year old girl who became the headgirl of her class. After some time she asked her father why the other students were not listening to her and respecting her. The father told her that if others did not like her she would not have been elected in the first place and he told her that she should now work hard to show the other students that she really cared for them. This came from a 15 year old child. Our politicians and others in power (as the management of sevenhills) behave in the same way. To win elections they approach us with folded hands but after winning the elections we have to approach them with folded hands. When power comes, one tends to think its a birth right to be respected and even worshipped.

The management of sevenhills behaves in a similar manner. At the time of appointment their talk is all sugar and honey. I have been told ’’Doctor, you do not know how we respect doctors in this organisation’’. But one year down the line, when the doctor has burnt all his bridges, the tables turn. In fact the last CEO of the hospital, a famous cardiothoracic surgeon, who lasted for just about 3 months in the hospital told me:'I cannot work in a place where there is no frredom. In such a situation, it is better to leave early rather than late'. He was a dynamic person, wanting to improve the running of the hospital. Probably that was his fault. He should have been a yes man like the GM and the other cronies. The Chairman dosent seem to want to hear anything other than what is pleasing to his ears. Opinions given in good faith are not taken in the spirit in which they are given. They are treated as a sign of defiance. His only claim to fame as far as hospital management is concerned is that they are running a small 250 bedded hospital in the 2nd tier town of Vizag. And he claims, on that basis, to have 20-25 years of experience in the health care sector! In fact, one has to do a Google search to find out about the hospital. People know more about seven seas than about sevenhills! And he should realise that many of the consultants have an equal amount of experience in tunning their deparments.

The Chairman would not meet with the consultant doctors for months on end after the hospital was inaugurated on July 4th 2010. Meanwhile the doctors would be wondering what was going to happen because there were numerous adverse reports of the hospital in the media. One of the first consultants to leave was a well known Rheumatologist. I was very keen that he did not leave because he was good in his work and an extremely decent person. But he told be that he had tried to meet the Chairman 5 times and each time he was denied permission. He also told me that he did not join the hospital to enter details into computers but rather to treat patients. His only request was that he be allowed to leave a little early as he lived quite a distance away. After that more than 50 consultant doctors have left or been forced to leave.

People have told me that the land in which the hospital has been built is ’’cursed’’. They say that no enterprise in that land has done well. I am not superstitious but there are people who believe in such things. Actually that land belonged to the poor East Indians living in Marol village. It was a paddy field. The Govt. acquired it from the villagers and paid a pittance for it. And now sevenhills is occupying it and trying to make a profit out of it. It is unlikely they will succeed if they do not give back to the people what was originally theirs. It reminds me of a saying by Jomo Kenyata who is considered to be the father of African Nationalism. I do not remember the exact words but they were something like this: The white men came to Africa and when they came they did so in peace. There were also missionaries with them. At that time the land was ours and the Bible was theirs. They taught us to pray with our eyes closed and when we opened our eyes, the land was theirs and the Bible was ours!.