Introduction

The city of Vijayawada has a population of 1.5million. This is the cultural, educational and financial center for Andhra Pradesh state, the agriculture heart land of Krishna & Godavari delta. Nagarjuna Hospital, situated in this city, is a 140 beds specialty hospital located in spacious premises of 4.5 acres. The hospital has excellent infrastructure incorporating state of the art medical technology supported by a team of experienced consultants, medical officers and qualified nurses. Nagarjuna is a tertiary referral center for medical gastroenterology, surgical gastroenterology, respiratory medicine, intensive care medicine, advanced orthopedic surgery including joint replacement, comprehensive trauma care, nephrology, urology, neurology, neuro surgery, pediatric surgery and plastic surgery. Basic specialties such as general medicine, general surgery, obstetrics& genecology are also provided. Mechanical ventilation, therapeutic endoscopy, digital endoscopy, neuro vascular surgery, joint replacement surgery and major surgical gastroenterology procedures were initiated by Nagarjuna and continued relentlessly.

The London connection

In spring 1987, 7 Indian doctors met in London and discussed about the need for an emergency care hospital in Vijayawada. People from Andhra Pradesh state districts had to travel to Hyderabad or Chennai for specialty care. Many emergencies never managed to reach the far away hospitals. The decision was taken to start a speciality hospital in Vijayawada. It was also decided to create a healing atmosphere in a spacious campus. Giving priority to medical services, keeping the cost of hospitality services to a minimum and making the facilities available even to low socio economic classes was the main aim.  The hospital is now owned by Nagarjuna Hospitals Limited, an unlisted public limited company.  Most of the share owners are clinicians and their family members who are living in India and abroad.

Medicine 1992, Vijayawada

Vijayawada has a rich medical heritage. The age old Bezawada medical association was the pioneer of continuing medical education in the city. The 1st team of Nagarjuna doctors recollects that in early 90’s, before Nagarjuna Hospital was started, people had to travel 300 kms for specialist medical care and emergency care to other cities. None of the private hospitals accepted medico legal cases such as poisoning and road traffic accidents. The only blood bank operated during day time and the blood was collected from professional donors. No proper mechanical ventilation facilities in the ICU’s setting were available in the region. It used to be difficult to do even electrolyte estimation and ABG.  Some of the lifesaving procedures such as therapeutic endoscopy for acute GI bleeding, temporary pacing for complete heart block, central venous line placement etc., were not available.  Other services like ERCP, pancreatico biliary surgery, joint replacement surgery, orthopaedic surgery using image intensifier, cerebro vascular surgery were also not available. The 1st recognized blood bank in the city was started in Nagarjuna. The hospital acquired two image intensifiers, one for orthopaedic & neuro surgical use in the operation theatre complex and the second one for radiology & gastroenterology. Nagarjuna started most of the services and continued to provide them on a regular basis over the years. The services of the Nagarjuna Hospital are utilized by many insurance and other corporations.

NABH Accreditation

Nagarjuna Hospital was awarded accreditation from National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & and Health care providers (NABH) which is a prestigious accreditation body for hospitals in India, in 2012.  NABH is a prestigious accreditation body for hospitals in India and abroad. The accreditation was given in recognition of the systems and processes of the hospital which are in perfect consonance with the best health care practices followed around the world. This gives a major boost to the healthcare industry in the region. Nagarjuna is the 151st hospital in the country and 1st hospital in Central Andhra & Rayalaseema to achieve NABH accreditation.

 
Accreditation from NABH is a public recognition for quality care and services rendered by the organization. It gives healthcare organizations an opportunity to benchmark with best practices globally and to provide high quality of care that matches international standards, excellent patient satisfaction, treatment outcomes and continuity of care.