- The acquirement of Pune’s first cGreen OT certification. Setting high standards for the medical fraternity, the hospital secured 91.2% making it one of the highest rankings received pan India.
- A Gold LEED certification for Ruby Hall Clinic Wanowarie by the Indian Green Building Council making it one of India’s first certified green medical facilities.
- Ruby Hall Clinic Wanowarie’s Emergency Medicine Department is the only one in the city and Western Maharashtra to have received an NABH certification
- Ruby Hall Clinic Wanowarie has been awarded as one of the most promising Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics centre in the country by Silicon India. Coming to our patients, while the hospital itself is a tertiary care one, we do have a number of specialised clinics and camps catering to the needs of women. A few of these are: Fibroid Clinic, Menopause Clinic, Breast Clinic and breast oncoplastic surgery, IVF camps and others.
Stretching out to unchartered territories in managing healthcare
Dr. Manisha Karmarkar, COO – Ruby Hall Clinic Wanowarie, Pune
Her passion and curiosity to understand the Human body was one of the most compelling reason to enter medicine, says Dr. Manisha Karmarkar. While studying Anaesthesia at Mumbai’s Nanavati Hospital, her interest in medicine reached its zenith and she was sure that this passion would only grow with time. Quite sure that medicine would be a career driven by service, she recalls how she was tasked with putting others first ; yet allowing her to be a life-long learner, where her field of expertise would continually expand.
It was over two decades ago, in the year 1995 when Dr. Manisha started her career as a Senior Registrar in Ruby Hall Clinic’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Two years later, she was recruited as a consultant in the Department of Anaesthesiology. From thereon, she went on to take up the role of the Director – OT Services at Ruby Hall Clinic while being offered the same role at it’s satellite centres in other locatiosn in Pune. Her most cherished moment came in when the CEO of the Group, Mr. Bomi Bhote offered her the role of the COO. Dr. Manisha readily took up the role, which she felt was a powerful perch for leading the drive for improved quality of care, patient safety and clinical efficiency.
With a solid academic background and years of hands-on experience in crucial care-giving, Dr. Manisha strongly feels, that it is about time that Women are given credit for their endeavours. She took a strategic approach to help Women move efficiently along their desired career path to reach their goals. This resulting into Ruby Hall Clinic Wanowarie becoming India’s only all-women managed tertiary hospital adds on to her perseverance & strive.
‘It is very motivating to be believed in and shoulder so many responsibilities ; in this positive, encouraging and open-minded atmosphere, I have indeed become the best version of myself, adds Dr. Manisha.
The recipient of the ‘Heatlhcare Woman Icon’ Award by BERG Singapore at the 3rd Icons of Healthcare Summit & Awards, Singapore 2018, Dr. Manisha shares some interesting insights from her career & journey in this interview with team ABT.
What life events started you on your path to becoming a medical professional?
For many individuals who decide to become a doctor, it takes years of personal introspection & learning. And for others, it’s always been their life’s calling to pursue medical school and ultimately don the iconic white coat. For me though, it’s always been a very personal one. Having grown up first seeing my father work as a doctor, and then eventually my brother, it’s perhaps these events which inspired me the most.
It was not just their hard work and dedication that touched a chord, but also their power to heal and a sense of satisfaction of curing people of their agony and suffering. Most importantly, it was the gratitude, respect and appreciation that people felt towards them that mattered to me. There is truly nothing more heartening than the gratitude filled ‘thank you’ a doctor receives for giving a patient another lease of life.
Moreover, being a very focused student all through my academic years gave me the motivation to undertake the long hours of study required at medical school. It has always been in my nature to enjoy a good challenge, and see it through successfully. Perhaps this facet too helped me not just enjoy but thrive the gruelling years of studies.
Post my MBBS, it was my husband who motivated me to pursue anaesthetics as a specialisation. With him being a surgeon and me an anaesthetist, I thought we’d make a perfect match in the operating theatre! As the years passed, my experience in the operation theatres allowed me to voice and tackle the limitations of the OTs and this in turn made the management see potential in me as a leader. Thereafter, an MBA in healthcare just had to be in the wings. The rest, as they say, is history.
My journey to the medical profession as a student, a specialist and ultimately as a leader has been life changing. And it goes without saying that I’ve loved every moment!
Tell us about your most cherished milestone.
I have the incredibly demanding yet fulfilling responsibility of a large, complex organisation with a diverse workforce in a strict regulatory environment. While each day brings its own set of challenges in this ever-changing healthcare landscape, I see my most cherished milestone as making our hospital the only all-women managed tertiary healthcare centre in the country.
When I first joined Ruby Hall Clinic Wanowarie as the COO, I had set my eyes to accomplish it all. I soon realised that healthcare management isn’t just a man’s world anymore. As the healthcare landscape evolved, the need for gender diversity in our leadership ranks became more evident than ever before.
Backed by a formidable team of Women managers in various departments, each one of us leave no stone unturned in providing exceptional care with compassion. Moreover, with the addition of a large number of patient-centric facilities and so many more upcoming, I believe in always keeping the patient at the heart of what we do. This in turn, has led to transforming the financial prowess of the hospital with patient satisfaction levels constantly remaining above ninety percent.
Through a combination of Hospital Affiliations, Outpatient Specialty Care Centres, Healthcare Accreditations and Corporate partnerships, we have redefined ‘Swanky Healthcare’ while taking it to the next level.
Tell us about your experience at leading Ruby Hall’s all women unit at Pune.
It was the firm belief of my family and our CEO Mr. Bomi Bhote, my abilities that propelled me forward. As the first woman to lead what was yet to become one of India’s first all-women managed hospital, I felt a sense of responsibility to make my presence felt. However, I can happily say that my tenure at Ruby Hall Clinic Wanowarie has been marked both by small touches and broad strokes.
In the Ruby Hall environment, leadership has always been about promoting change. As a healthcare leader, I took it in my stride to change the delivery system. I had to do things differently than was done in the past, I had to set an example. With the support of Mr. Bhote, we strengthened the vision that a woman’s innate sense of multitasking and hospitality was what was needed to improve patient care. We thus began to recruit some of the most talented women in the industry and instil them with the confidence to take decisions on their own. Today, our 99% patient satisfaction results are proof of the pudding.
To stay patient focused, it was also essential that I involved my clinicians. Being a practicing anaesthetist allowed me to place myself in their position. It not only made our clinicians more involved, but it also made the system more efficient and transparent. Our employee friendly policies not only made our staff feel appreciated, loved, validated and nurtured — it also increased productivity levels. For instance, our work from home policy allows our women employees to efficiently juggle home and professional responsibilities.
Tell us about some of the milestones that Ruby Hall has achieved, in the recent past.
Ruby Hall has achieved some of the most prestigious accolades. It is with immense pride that I shoulder the onus of these achievements with my entire team. Some of our most commendable ones range from: