We heard in mid-September about how my mother-in-law's (Mummy's) health condition worsened after she was bedridden after a couple of falls in the bathroom. She also had difficulty swallowing and stopped eating. The doctor making house calls suggested that she be moved to a hospital for extensive tests and possible treatment. The only way we've moved her out of their second story apartment that lacks elevators is by stretcher and then transported her by ambulance.
My father-in-law (Daddy) simultaneously developed high fever caused by a suspected viral infection. This was followed by side effects of some nasty medication that was prescribed, but we expected this to pass relatively quickly.
Since Anita and her two brothers are all living in the US I left for Pune for what I thought would be a short trip to have Mummy and Daddy checked out and treated. My direct flight on Delta Airlines from JFK to Mumbai was surprisingly comfortable and I headed straight to Pune by road, arriving there within five hours.
While Pune doesn't have JCI accredited hospitals popular with medical tourists, it does have some decent private ones. The three we considered were Jehangir (now owned and run by the famed Apollo group), Ruby Hall (aka Grant Foundation) and Inlaks & Budhrani (run by the charitable Sadhu Vaswani Mission.)
The former two are reputedly more posh and professional, but I settled on Inlaks on the advice of two of my in-law's relatives who said (a) the doctors and staff there are more caring and less driven by profit, and (b) this hospital is run by the Sindhi community to which my in-laws belong, and they'd have more access and attention from the top operatives if this is needed.
My in-laws were admitted to Inlaks just a day apart. Contrary to expectations Daddy's case turned out to be far more serious. He had a large perforation of a duodenal ulcer that was building for years but one we were all unaware of. At age 89 he went through two emergency surgeries nine days apart, which were the first in his life. He spent 25 days in the hospital, and his situation looked grim for quite a bit of this time.
Fortunately, Daddy and Mummy are now home and recovering well. Here are some notable aspects of our experience:
- The hospital costs were very low by US standards. Daddy's 25 day stay in a deluxe single occupancy room, a score of specialist consultations and two surgeries could have easily cost $200K in the US, even at negotiated rates. At Inlaks it came to about $6K. Similarly, Mummy's 19 day stay and treatment cost about $1,600.
- In addition to these hospital costs, I also for good measure engaged round the clock help-maids (called "maussis" or "aunts" who help clean and care for the patient) privately for both Daddy and Mummy. They cost a total of about $20 per day and made things a lot easier.
- A lot of the hospital staff was very caring. The nurses and aides would call elderly patients "Uncle" or "Aunty." Those in the ward would visit Daddy in the ICU the times he was moved there just to see how he was doing. When the time came somewhat to our amusement Daddy was reluctant to leave the comforting cocoon of hospital care.
- I came to know many of the doctors and administrators, and developed distinct impressions about them. I was struck by the competence and humanity of a sizable number of them.
- The hospital adjoins the Osho ashram founded by Swami Rajneesh (first made famous by the Beatles who visited it decades ago) and is popular with many Western visitors. I found several of them coming to Inlaks for medical attention and chatted with some of them. They seemed happy with the care overall. That said, I don't consider this hospital suitable for medical tourists, who should expect a more upscale, sterile and professional environment. But if you're not too choosy, you get decent care and can't beat the price.
- A lot of the nurses had very arduous tasks and often seemed to be understaffed and under stress. I was surprised at how little they were paid - netting about $150 a month in cash or even less. There seems to be a strong case for paying them much more without hurting financial viability.
- Anita has a phenomenal extended family. I joke that when I married her I didn't realize I'd get such good relatives as dowry. Her cousin Rita insisted on coming from Mumbai to Pune with maid in tow for 5 days and was invaluable in taking charge of Mummy's care in hospital while I dealt with Daddy's situation. Another set of cousins Ashok, his sister Indru and her husband Gul (who own the Sun-n-Sand hotel chain) came from Mumbai to visit. They gave us the penthouse suite of their Sun-n-Sand Pune 5 star deluxe hotel (located less than a mile from the hospital) and full run of all facilities and an army of liveried staff through our stay there. Gul specially called and Ashok threatened to "kill me" when I protested I couldn't accept such lavish help. But it made a huge difference. Then there's Meena and her parents Hira Uncle and Dru Aunty (Mummy's sister) who were always there with help and advice. The list goes on and we're blessed.
