21st Century Healthcare

"The storm is now over. Me back to blogging makes me feel things are falling back in place. I shall be back in full action very soon."

These were the closing lines of my last blogpost. I stand corrected. If anything, it was the calm before the storm. The very next morning (of writing that post) I woke up with quite a pain in the arm. An hour later, it had started bleeding profusely and I had to be rushed to the hospital. I was glad I had changed to Columbia Asia from Ramaiah a week ago. The doctors in the casualty could stop bleeding by the evening but I had to spend a few days in the hospital.

The first couple of days were painful but the next two turned out as an extended weekend where I rested well, watched a lot of TV, read, and enjoyed hotel-like facilities while under good medical care. I haven't visited Apollo but this was far better than Manipal, which is regarded the best in Bangalore by people living close to it. But Manipal isn't half as sleek, efficient, and clean.

Columbia Asia looks like a corporate office more than a hospital. A huge reception where reps help you in the queue and then escort you till the respective department/doctor, a spacious lobby sided with a CCD outlet and a bookshop, and a smart decor and lighting take you in surprise. The wards look like hotel rooms with Sony Bravia TVs and Italian couches for attendants, and wifi internet. I, however, stayed away from my laptop else I'd have been blogging this from my bed or would have been w-f-h (hospital). The bathroom had Biotique toiletries. Good-looking bellgirls serve food to the patients' rooms from a choice of menu; I had delicious pasta one day, noodles another day, and different soups everyday. The normal thalis were tasty and filling too. I was put directly on line with the chef when I had wanted to have a variation in a side-dish.



The doctors and nurses were patient and quite dedicated. I had a surgeon, a haemotologist, and a physiotherapist visiting me frequently and following my case keenly in an almost VIP-treatment. The finance guys visited me at my bed to help me when I wanted to file a claim. You are known through your MRN and your entire case is accessible from any computer on the hospital network. Your prescriptions are ready at the pharmacy even before you reach there to collect them. Ok, it is a bit expensive (my room was twice as expensive as a room in Ginger Hotels, and everything followed suit), but the comfort is worth it.

Constructed in a 130,000 sqft campus by Brigade group adjacent to their upcoming 30-storey state-of-the-art office space with a helipad, this was the Seattle-based consortium's second center in Bangalore. There are 12 more Columbia Asia facilities in operation in India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, and 26 projects under construction/design.

The cool facility rose my spirits instead of dampening them as it generally happens when you have to stay in a hospital. Good care was taken of my arm, and though it will still take some time to heal completely, here I am, exactly one-week later, all praises. There is another facility near Hebbal, and one coming up in Bangalore South (Jayanagar?) and one in Whitefield, by 2010. I would not wish any of you visiting a hospital, but if need be, I'd definitely recommend Columbia Asia.

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