CMC doctors’ dream to make quality healthcare affordable takes wing in Hyderabad Premium

Unicorpus Health Foundation provides affordable, ethical healthcare to the needy, expanding services and planning a new facility in Hyderabad.

Close to a decade ago, a group of nine doctors, mostly alumni from the prestigious Christian Medical College (CMC-Vellore) in Tamil Nadu, joined hands for what they called “giving back to society in the form of affordable and ethical evidence-based health care to the needy”.

Brainchild of Samson Sujit Kumar, a neurosurgeon and an alumnus of CMC-Vellore, Unicorpus Health Foundation (UHF) has managed to win the hearts of the poor and rural residents with the concept of affordable healthcare. The motto ‘Unicorpus’, in literal terms, means “to come together as one body”, and rightly so as not only healthcare professionals but also people with diverse gifts have joined hands to alleviate the suffering of the sick.

Kavitha David, chief operating officer of the UHF, said the organisation was established in 2015 to provide affordable, ethical, evidence-based, compassionate and holistic health services to urban and rural population through consultations (medical and dental), physiotherapy, home care, palliative care and in-patient services.

She said that when they started working, they found a massive requirement for medical services among senior citizens. “This prompted us to start the Unicorpus Senior Citizen Polyclinic in 2016. The response from the senior citizens was overwhelming and led to demands from families to extend the services to other groups also,” she remarked.

“What started with nine professionals has 50 dedicated doctors today, extending treatment to the needy in consultation, physiotherapy, counselling, clinical home care and palliative care,” recalled Shilpi, paedodonist and a founder-member of the UHF.

Dr. Shilpi said that in 2019, the UHF started a polyclinic on the YMCA premises, which was really helpful to the needy in Secunderabad area. The big break, however, came in 2020 when the UHF entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Word and Deed Hospital at Hayathnagar to take over the existing hospital. “It’s a 30-bed hospital with two operation theatres and equipped with a C-Arm, labour room, outpatient block, X-ray facility and a basic diagnostic lab. On the same premises, we have a rehabilitation Centre started in 2022,” she said.

Ms. Kavitha said during COVID-19, the team of doctors converted the guest house on YMCA premises into an isolation centre and treated the patients at affordable rates compared to other healthcare institutions.