Personal tragedies have a way of impacting lives in profound ways. In the case of Rajesh Bhargava, Chairman of Convenient Hospitals Ltd, the event was the passing of his father when Rajesh was in his final year of college. He lost his life unaided after a road accident in their hometown of Indore. Though he completed his studies and pursued a career in the field of civil engineering it was a thought always on his mind that Indore needed quality healthcare. When a friend who was a doctor asked him at the turn of the century to start a hospital in the town, Rajesh took the opportunity and has dedicated his life to healthcare ever since – 16 years now and counting.

Today, Convenient Hospitals is a household name in the region in critical care and cancer treatment, operating with the promise of providing quality services at a reasonable cost. Another hospital is in the works in Indore and it is Rajesh’s vision that this centre will take medical services in Indore to greater heights by being the first transplant centre in the city.

In conversation with GlobalLinker (GL) Rajesh Bhargava (RB) shares the journey of his chain of hospitals. To learn more about this journey watch the following video.

GL: Tell us about your business.

RB: We are based in Indore. But we have one hospital in Ujjain and another in Ratlam.

This is a multi-specialty hospital whereby medical procedures are done at a high level. This was the first multi-specialty hospital of Madhya Pradesh. We do transplants also and that shows what kind of surgeries we perform at the hospital. I am a civil engineer by profession but it just so came about that 16 years back we started a hospital. Indore did not have a hospital where you could go for cardiac arrests or heart failures which is such a common disease. For heart problems people used to go to Delhi, Mumbai or Hyderabad and patients used to sometimes die along the way.

My partner is a doctor. I used to be a builder. I constructed multi-storied buildings. He once asked me, why can’t we start a small hospital. I believed that Indore should have good hospitals ever since my father died unaided after a road accident. This was when I was in my last year of engineering college. That was a very sad time for us. So, when my friend said we should start a hospital I decided to do it.

We bought a hotel on auction and though it was a big deal, starting a hospital from scratch, we said that if we fail we could again start a hotel. The hospital started and doctors started coming back from where they were working in Mumbai, Delhi or Australia even. Our cardiac surgeon returned from Australia and has now been with us for 16 years.

So like this the journey started and the hospital began. Patient strength kept rising. In 2016 we are doing 200-250 angioplasty surgeries every month and almost a 100 cardiac surgeries every month. People are shocked to here this because even hospitals in Delhi and Mumbai don’t do so many surgeries. In addition to cardiac surgeries we do neurological, gastrological, gynecological, pediatric and orthopedic surgeries. Our ICU is always packed - whoever is critical runs to CHL.

GL: What are the challenges you have faced in establishing your business?

RB: Whenever you start a business and when you want to buy equipment it can be challenging. Fifteen, sixteen years back without the internet and good communications, we had to get the equipment from Delhi or Mumbai. For repair we had to wait for the part to come and get repaired. But equipment holders now keep fast moving parts in godowns in Bhopal or Indore so that has been a marked improvement.

Labour is also not trained in the MP area. We have a paramedical institute where we are training technicians and helpers so that they can be absorbed in similar industries in India.

A challenge now is scarcity of skilled people. Nurses, after working two-three years, go abroad. They are sometimes paid ten times as much as we can pay abroad. Now, with the coming of more hospitals to Indore, there is a shift in manpower as people move from hospital to hospital. However, I am happy to say ours is largely unaffected.

GL: What is the USP of your business?

RB: Our main USP is to provide quality care at a minimum price.

GL: What are some of the milestones of your business.

RB: We started this hospital in November, 2001. After seven years we started another hospital in Ratlam. Then we constructed another hospital in Ujjain. In 2011 we started a cancer hospital. Currently hospitals in Indore are critical care or super-specialty hospitals. I want to take that to the next level. It could be a transplant centre. Indore doesn’t do heart or liver transplants. In the last one year, Indore has been involved in 14 cadaver transplants. We have done 2 kidney transplants and hearts have gone to Delhi and Mumbai. We want to have transplants done in Indore.

Over the last 7-8 years, MP government has given a lot of help to poor people. So about 40% of our cardiac revenue comes from operating on people supported by the government. Almost all the corporates in the region are our clients along with the insurance companies.

GL: What role do you feel GlobalLinker plays in connecting and assisting SMEs?

RB: I feel it is an exciting new thing coming up. I saw while browsing GlobalLinker that you can connect with people like you. I will be able to connect with other hospitals across India and that would help.

GL: What is your big business dream?

RB: My dream is to have more hospitals. But I am saying a few more not many more. This is because to get quality people, honest people and dedicated people to serve in the medical field is very important and difficult. We also hope that in Indore we can treat people with quality services in a transparent manner and at cheap cost.

GL: What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs?

RB: If you are a first generation entrepreneur, work with honesty and work hard. You’ll make it.

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