I recently had a very dissapointing experience with Apollo Victor Hospital, Margoa. The day I went to meet the doctor I was informed that I would be admitted the same day and operated upon the next day for kidney tumour. The doctors there said I would also need angiography and temporary pacemaker as they found irregular heartbeats as I had undergone triple bypass more than 10 years ago. I stayed there for two days undergoing tests. My brother was asked to arrange for blood (three bottles) at night for surgery to be held next morning at eight. He said it would be impossible to round up people so late. But I got out of the hospital the next morning. I then went to the Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. It is one of the topmost hospitals in India and thousands come daily for their medical needs. It is about two and half hours by road from Chennai. My family was in touch with a Goan doctor, Elvino Barretto, who is associate professor of plastic surgery there. Dr. Barreto, who hails from Velsao, was of immense help. He personally met the urologist, the cardiologist and other doctors to get me on a priority basis. If not for him, I could have been there for over a month. The cardiologist at the CMC ran some tests and came to the conclusion that I need no angiography nor a temporary pacemaker during the operation. I had a successful operation. The doctors here are good. However, it is hard to get appointments and one may have to wait at least a week or more to see the specialist. People come many outside states, and even from abroad, to get medical attention. Some stay in hotels for more than a month to get a date for operation. The lines for blood tests, ECG, etc, are long and takes hours. I spent 18 days there. Dr. Barreto is a gem of a man. His wife, Padma, who hails from Andhra Pradesh and comes from a family of doctors, is a gynacologist. Both of them are very sincere people who would go out of their way to assist someone they know or if requested help. He told my family that he has worked in Goa hospitals. To him some of the private hospitals in Goa are nothing but commercial enterprises whose first priority is to make money. Apollo quoted me Rs 80,000 lakhs for the operation over the phone and when I went there I was given an estimate of Rs 1.7 lakhs. After arguing with the doctor, he agreed to reduce the 25 percent NRI charges. The total cost would probably cost be anywhere between Rs. 2.5 to 3 lakhs. If I had done the angiography it would have cost me Rs 16,000. Besides, there would be cost for the temporary pacemaker. For two days stay in a private ward and for tests, doctor's visits, and medicines, etc. I paid Rs 24,000. I was told that I would be in the ICU for at least three days after the operation. At the CMC the doctor felt no need to put me in the ICU. My family even checked with Wockhart Hospital and they gave an estimate of Rs 2.5 lakhs. Even after I discharged myself from Apollo, the doctor called my family member and tried to persuade here to let me have the operation there. My family said that they were not confident and informed the doctor that the family wanted to have a second opinion. Wockhart Hospital too started calling from the moment we made enquiries there. Both Apollo and Wockhart were aggressive in their approach to get business. As for CMC, it is huge but too crowded with patients and their relatives. One can get admitted into a first-class private ward. If one does so, the cost of the operation triples. My doctor friend said it is no use moving into a first-class ward, though it was hard to get a bed immediately, and that a semi-private room would be fine. The cost came to more than a Rs 1 lakh, leaving aside the travel costs by air and stay in an AC room in a reasonably good hotel a few days before getting admitted and a few days after being discharged from the hospital. Recently, one person from my village was sent to Belgaum for a heart problem. The operation was to cost him Rs 4 lakhs, and as they family managed to arrange the money the patient was kept in the ICU. The day prior to the operation he died. I am not sure if the delay in not operating him earlier cost him his life. The person was working at the INS Gomantak in Dabolim. I don't know why he was told to go to Belgaum for the operation (something to do with the heart valve). For a middle-class family with no insurance coverage, it is hard to come up with lakhs of money. Another villager was advised to go to Bangalore for a heart operation and he never returned home alive. Does Goa hospitals lack doctors who can handle difficult cases? Why does Goa promote "medical tourism" abroad? Many years ago I met Victor Albuquerque, owner of the Apollo Hospital and many hotels in Goa, at the Arabian Travel Mart show in Dubai. He was there as part of the delegation led by, I think, Dr. Wilfred de Souza, the then tourism minister. Victor informed me about the high-state of equipment and facilities at Apollo. It is true that Europeans find the cost of medical attention and operation in Goa lower then, say, in England, Scotland or any East European country. Many be even Americans come to go to Goa for medical needs, though it is hard to obtain figures. Even as I decided to discharge myself from Apollo, the marketing person, who is known to my family, was keen to know why I was not willing to have my operation there. I told her that my family was not satisfied with the doctor's replies to their queries. She tried to convince me that she would personally help in getting thrings done in order to my satisfaction. I had, however, made up my mind to leave the hospital. I told them a lie that I was going to Toronto to have my operation. After I returned to Goa from Vellore I talked to her and told her that there is a mixed feelings among Goans about the hospital. Some say it is good and others says it is just okay. But they all agree that it is very costly. For many Goans in Goa who cannot afford going to these big hospitals such as Apollo, Wockhart, NUSI, and Salgoakar, the choice, I believe, is the Goa Medical College at Bambolim or the Margoa Hospital. Or some lesser-known hospitals that I am not aware of. There are many horror stories coming out of Goa's many small and big hosptials. Goa obviously needs more affordable hospitals to cater to the growing population. I am informed that both the GMC and the Magoa Hosptial lack adequate staff and facilities to meet the demands. I also think that some sort of state insurance coverage must be made available to those who fall below a certain income line. Goa should also improve its rural health services.
Eugene Correia
