The Indian healthcare sector has seen rapid growth over the years, thanks to the integration of advanced technology as well as growing awareness among people after the pandemic. However, over time, quality healthcare service has become extremely costly as well as unaffordable for the middle class as well as lower class to afford those quality healthcare services. Intending to provide quality healthcare service at an affordable price, Dr. Girija R. G. Co-Founded Dhatri Health Care at Whitefield, Bengaluru, along with her Husband Dr. Vinay H G. While Dr. Girija is a Pediatrics specialist with a fellowship in Neonatology, Dr. Vinay is a Surgical Gastroenterologist. Starting in November 2016, slowly the demand for Pediatric healthcare services saw a rapid surge, that made Dr. Girija spend more hours at the clinic. Both Dr. Girija and Dr. Vinay started their multispeciality hospital called Vamshodaya Advanced Multispeciality Hospital at Kolar in November 2021 and are presently working at both centers. Dr. Girija R is also the lead neonatologist at the hospital, which is first of its kind with a state of art NICU, 25 beds , CPAP/HFNC, mechanical ventilators, HFOV, criticool, aEEG, 2D echo, ultrasound and CT scan. While the rising healthcare cost in the city is a huge headache for the middle-class as well as lower-class people, the world-class healthcare services provided by the medic couple are certainly applause-worthy.

In an exclusive interview with Women Entrepreneur, Dr. Girija shares her early education and overall professional experience, the underlying idea behind founding Dhatri Health Care as well as the services provided by the clinic, and much more.

Take us through your early educational journey and the prior industry experience that you bring to the table.

My father, an agriculturist, always dreamt of seeing myself and my sister as doctors as well as financially independent. He has always supported us and allowed us to pursue our dream. I did my MBBS from Devaraj URS Medical College, Kolar and then my MD in Pediatrics from Rajiv Gandhi University. Later on, I did my Fellowship in Neonatology from Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bommasandra. After that, I started working in Narayana Hrudayalaya, Vydehi Medical College, and then Manipal Hospital, Whitefield. Along with that, I also simultaneously started working at my private clinic that we set-up in the evenings. However, due to the surge in the demand for a Pediatrician at my private clinic, I increased my timings in the morning as well as evening hours at my clinic. Along with that, we constructed another hospital at Kolar in partnership named Vamshodaya Advanced Multispeciality Hospital. So currently, we have two centers, which are Dhatri Healthcare and Vamshodaya Advanced Multispeciality Hospital, Kolar.

What factors motivate you to establish Dhatri Health Care and Vamshodaya Hospital? Tell us about the underlying idea behind both of them and their most unique features.

My husband is a Surgical Gastroenterologist whereas I am a Pediatrician. So we decided to set-up a clinic concentrating on both services. It was my husband’s initiative and dream to start a clinic that would be providing affordable healthcare services to the patients, and that’s how Dhatri healthcare was started. The clinic is located on Immadihalli Main Road, Whitefield.

While there has never been a shortage of Pediatricians, most of them are male Pediatricians. The mothers after delivery have a lot of queries regarding baby care such as breastfeeding, and so on, and usually feel comfortable as well as at ease talking to a female Pediatrician as compared to a male doctor, and this is something that motivated me in the first place to start a clinic, especially for the middle-class as well as lower-class patients. After starting the clinic, the venture picked-up rapidly.

In November 2021, intending to provide the most advanced level of medical and surgical care to patients, we started another Tertiary level multi-specialty hospital at Kolar in partnership named Vamshodaya Advanced Multispeciality Hospital. Vamshodaya Hospital is a 150-bedded big hospital with 25 bedded neonatal intensive care, 15-bedded pediatric intensive and 15 bedded medical intensive care. Along with that, we also have two Minor OTs and Septic OTs. Along with 24/7 Casualty and Emergency Service, the Hospital offers a comprehensive and Holistic health solution comparable to the best hospitals in the world.

"To all the women out there, they have to stand-up for what they have and look forward"

Throw some light on the various roles and responsibilities that you shoulder as the founder of Dhatri Health Care? What are the different services provided by the clinic?

It has always been teamwork for both of us. One of the major responsibilities has been to maintain time. We also take care of scheduling appointments, maintaining cleanliness, recruiting staff, and training them. While most of the staff usually know about taking care of adult patients, pediatrics can be very difficult. So I also provide training to the staff. We have Neonatal care, vaccination services as well as healthcare services for all kinds of Pediatric ailments. We also have facilities for Colonoscopy, Endoscopy, and daycare surgeries. We don’t admit our patients, but we do care for them on an OPD basis.

What are some of the most pressing business challenges that you face in your current role, and how do you mitigate these challenges?

There were a lot of challenges initially when we started our clinic. Usually, the staff know how to take care of elderly patients. However, pediatrics can be very difficult to understand. So training the staff in the same was a bit of a challenge. It was also very challenging to find staff to assist my husband in his tasks such as daycare surgeries, Colonoscopy, and so on. We also had to maintain a timeframe due to the competition in and around. There are a lot of regulations and procedures you need to take care of after starting your clinic such as incorporating KPMs and all. But we were able to mitigate those challenges and were also able to build Vamshodaya Advanced Multispeciality Hospital in Kolar.

We started Dhatri in November 2016 and later on, we co-founded Vamshodaya Multispeciality unit in November 2021. The journey of starting from a clinic to setting-up a Multispeciality hospital has been full of challenges and struggles. However, we were able to tackle them while fulfilling our dream.

In your opinion, what are some of the most significant milestones that you have achieved in your professional journey? What has been the driving force behind your success as a leading pediatrician?

On a professional front, I have been a faculty to many of the conferences, mostly the neonatal conferences, held since 2016 till now. One of the most memorable milestones for me has been becoming one of the authors of the COVID guidelines book, a joint venture between UNICEF, the government of Karnataka, and the National Neonatology Forum, which was the first book ever released in India on COVID guidelines. Along with caring for my second child, I was also doing all my hospital work during that time. So it was an amazing experience to co-author that book. Even starting from a clinic in November 2016, today, we have successfully built Vamshodaya Advanced Multispeciality Hospital in Kolar. The overall journey has been a huge milestone.

Drawing from your experience as a successful business leader, what would your advice be to young women and girls who also aspire to become business leaders and entrepreneurs in the future?

Women are known to be multitaskers. So dream big to achieve big. All women need family support. My husband has always been my pillar of strength and his support throughout can’t be expressed in words. It’s because of his dreams and vision, we have been able to come-up to this point. To all the women out there, they have to stand up for what they have and look forward.

Dr. Girija R. G., Founder, Dhatri Health Care

To provide affordable healthcare service to people, Dr. Girija, along with her husband Dr. Vinay H. G., a seasoned Surgical Gastroenterologist himself, Co-Founded Dhatri Health Care, Bengaluru, and Vamshodaya Advanced Multispeciality Hospital, Kolar. She has done her MBBS from Devaraj URS Medical College, Kolar, MD in Pediatrics from Rajiv Gandhi University, and her Fellowship in Neonatology from Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bommasandra. Dr. Girija also co-authored the first book on COVID guidelines in India and has been regularly attending medical conferences, mostly neonatal health care conferences, as a faculty.

• Headquarter & Other Office Locations: Bangalore and Kolar

• A Business Leader You Admire: Sudha Murthy