Professor A K Gupta PROFESSOR A K Gupta, sub-dean (research), medical superintendent (MS), professor and head, department of Hospital Administration, PGIMER, completed 25 years as medical superintendent on Friday. “It has been a long, fulfilling and fruitful journey, replete with challenges, pressures, yet great satisfaction,” says Prof Gupta, who started his academic career as faculty at AIIMS, New Delhi, in 1988 and later joined PGIMER, Chandigarh, as medical superintendent and head, department of hospital administration in January 1996.
Fondly known as ‘Teacher of Teachers’, Prof Gupta, who has developed the department of hospital administration with his team, took the initiative and started a post-graduate course in Hospital Administration at PGI, Chandigarh, and guided more than 40 post-graduate students from this department, who he says, are making the institute proud.
“Nothing can be achieved alone, when you take people with you, only then you get success. As I look back at my time and work here, I can say with pride that I have worked beyond the call of duty, with integrity and can withstand any pressure. Mobilising teams, supplies, implementation of various orders and ensuring seamless coordination among departments, from this office, and behind the scenes, during the Covid-19 crisis was another learning experience. I think I must be the longest-serving MS of any government-run hospital in India,” says Prof Gupta, who has to his credit more than 100 scientific papers on hospital administration.
He has piloted innovative health information management software ‘decision support system’ for optimising average length of stay for patients in the hospital, thereby decreasing costs and increasing turnover at PGIMER, Chandigarh.
A unique initiative by Prof Gupta was to establish a facility to give expert opinion by doctors in judicial process through video conferencing (Tele Evidence), which has been taken up as a project to be replicated at the national level by the Government of India. “Significant increase in the number of eye donations and cadaveric organ donations in the institute which bestowed vision to the blind and a new lease of life to many in need is close to my heart,” he says.
Prof Gupta has many awards to his credit. Recently, under his leadership, the institute was awarded the ‘Best Hospital Award’ and the ‘Best ROTTO Award’, in the field of ‘Deceased Organ Donation’ by NOTTO in November 2019, with PGIMER winning the ‘Cleanest public hospital in the country during INDOSAN 2016’. “The Institute has won several prizes for its efforts in promoting hygiene and health facilities under the Centre’s ‘Kayakalp’ programme and I have see it grow from a 1,000 beds to now 2,000 and from 5,000 employees to 13,000. The APC, new OPD, new eye hospital, cardiac hospital were all commissioned during my time and our association with various social organisations has been a heartening experience. Looking back, I can say I have grown with this great institute and I consider it a blessing that I have had a chance to serve people, as I look ahead to more work and giving back,” sums up Prof Gupta.