The Making of a visionary
When the young Kanti Patel was packing his bags to move from Kenya to Navsari, in Gujarat, India with his mother, brother and two sisters, the enormity of the sacrifice his father was making to send his family away to a safer environment, hit him. It was the constant violence and turbulence in Gilgil, a small town where Kanti was born, that drove the family to make a hard decision.
“Though my father never verbalized it, somewhere deep inside I realized that he was giving up so much for us. Considering my father hardly spent any time with us, and always lived away so that he could financially support us, I subconsciously realized the importance of education. And that it should have a purpose,” says Dr. Kanti Patel as he digs deep in the recesses of his mind to capture the essence of his childhood and the impact it had on his impressionable mind. “Obstacles have always come my way but the problems were considered secondary since I had the goal in mind. Strife and struggle became way of life but it didn’t bother me,” he says encapsulating his philosophy of life.
For those of you who came in late, Dr. Kantilal Patel and his wife Ranjna have done ground-breaking work when it comes to low cost and effective medical treatment in Auckland. The couple behind the East Tamaki Healthcare which totals to 12 clinics at the last count has changed the way people look and think about Healthcare in low decile areas. The illustrious but low profile couple, who prefer to let their work speak for itself, have completely revolutionized the system putting their inimitable stamp on it. Trail-blazers- of-sorts, they’ve proved that if you hold on to your dreams and pursue them relentlessly, you can achieve them without a doubt!
Their story is an inspiring one that deserves to be told because it is all about the triumph of human spirit over adversity, obstacles and mammoth challenges. It’s also about giving back to society and contributing to humanity. That’s the reason why they were even acknowledged by the crown as both Dr. Kantilal Patel and Ranjna received the Queen’s Service Medal for the exemplary service to the community and being the biggest health provider to the Maori, Pacific and Indian community.
Fixing an appointment for a together interview wasn’t quite difficult. But eventually meeting the busy couple together was, as Dr. Kantilal Patel had to rush off to the Dannemora clinic to fill in for one of the GP was on leave that day. His efficient other half readily stepped in with ease, like she is used to doing and gave me the backdrop of their life on the fast-track. Running through the quick snapshots of how her life changed 360% ever since she go married to Dr, Kanti Patel in an arranged match, she recollected the times when the kids were practically bought up at the surgery to the early years when they were in a state of complete shock on discovering to their horror that the very first practice they bought out of borrowed money from an old family friend came with a reputation---the doctor who sold it to them was arrested for fraudulent practices later.
It was Ranjna’s parents who had enough faith in their son-in-law to mortgage their own home to help him out, and her uncle whom they are eternally grateful to, for bailing them out.
Refusing to let setbacks affect his mercurial rise, the resilient and devoted young doctor was determined to bring about a change. Dr. Kanti Patel gradually succeeded in turning things around and earned himself goodwill through sheer hard work and the knack of putting systems into place.
That’s how the success story of growth and sheer ingenuity began when he started employing more doctors, bought over other clinics or merged with them and introduced something that was unheard of in the early days---centralising the data of the patients at a satellite surgery.
“For a man who had never used a keyboard, it was amazing that he thought of asking someone to specially write a programme for him so that his patients could go to any of the clinics and the doctors who treated them would have all the necessary information they need to access,” reveals Ranjna who had been more than a supportive wife as she’s been the cushion he could fall back on when the times got tough for the sincere doc who was extremely passionate about building up his practice by fair means.
“Initially when he started doing really well, he became a point of criticism for the hierarchy who wondered how one doctor could handle so many patients,” recollects Ranjna who revealed how her husband worked 12 hours a day and then went for house visits. “But Kanti always believed that good service to the patients is your best marketing tool,” explains the New Zealand born Ranjna with a charming accent as she admits being quite content to live in the same house for the last 30 years, mainly because her husband has always believed in putting back whatever they’ve earned into the practice.
Today, the dynamic duo have managed to amalgamate 45 doctors under one roof and provide the best service to hundred thousand patients --- albeit, with lots of challenges facing them, like workforce migrating to Australia for a better lifestyle.
“Another challenge is to constantly update the system and think of ways how we can innovate and improve our service without the patients loosing easy access to the doctors, or our common values of quality, care and professionalism, ” says Dr. Kantilal Patel whom I caught up with a couple of week later.
The visionary doctor with a spiritual bent of mind also spoke volumes about the Swaminarayan temple and what inspired him to build it. “I had the good fortune of meeting the 6th direct descendant of Lord Swaminarayan in New Zealand who really inspired me. Just meeting him and being in his presence was an uplifting experience. Later, it was help of Vasantbhai Shukla, a scholarly Brahmin who helped me to understand the scriptures and the true essence of Hinduism.”
As the journey of enlightenment began, the prolific doctor decided to build a haven of peace and tranquility, the Swaminarayan temple in Papatoetoe, not so much for the beautiful architectural structure but because it would give the community a chance to nurture their souls and seek the divine. “Our ego is our biggest enemy,” he expounds, “So it’s important to have a sense of discrimination when thoughts crowd our mind. Since none of us are perfect we need to seek him out. Whether we do it by ourselves or through a guru is up to us. But we need to practice spirituality in our day-to-day lives and not just in the temple.”
Which is what the good doctor who has recently been conferred the Distinguished Fellowship from the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, does. The philanthropic doctor who has always done the hard yards as he expanded the practice, still firmly believes in growth with sustainability and cost-effective medical delivery from the ETHC which even has 25 shareholders now.
What’s even more creditable is that instead of just celebrating the contribution he has made to the community at large, Dr. Kantilal Patel still has other multi-hued dreams to accomplish. The zealous doctor wants to consolidate and duplicate the unique model of cost effective model of primary healthcare that he has created, in India someday. “There is nothing to beat the feeling of doing something good in your own homeland. And the big plus is the human resources that are readily available in India.”
Obviously, for this illustrious doctor who is a year shy of sixty, there are miles to go as he leaves his footprints on the sands of both the countries he loves and respects.
When the young Kanti Patel was packing his bags to move from Kenya to Navsari, in Gujarat, India with his mother, brother and two sisters, the enormity of the sacrifice his father was making to send his family away to a safer environment, hit him. It was the constant violence and turbulence in...
When the young Kanti Patel was packing his bags to move from Kenya to Navsari, in Gujarat, India with his mother, brother and two sisters, the enormity of the sacrifice his father was making to send his family away to a safer environment, hit him. It was the constant violence and turbulence in Gilgil, a small town where Kanti was born, that drove the family to make a hard decision.
“Though my father never verbalized it, somewhere deep inside I realized that he was giving up so much for us. Considering my father hardly spent any time with us, and always lived away so that he could financially support us, I subconsciously realized the importance of education. And that it should have a purpose,” says Dr. Kanti Patel as he digs deep in the recesses of his mind to capture the essence of his childhood and the impact it had on his impressionable mind. “Obstacles have always come my way but the problems were considered secondary since I had the goal in mind. Strife and struggle became way of life but it didn’t bother me,” he says encapsulating his philosophy of life.
For those of you who came in late, Dr. Kantilal Patel and his wife Ranjna have done ground-breaking work when it comes to low cost and effective medical treatment in Auckland. The couple behind the East Tamaki Healthcare which totals to 12 clinics at the last count has changed the way people look and think about Healthcare in low decile areas. The illustrious but low profile couple, who prefer to let their work speak for itself, have completely revolutionized the system putting their inimitable stamp on it. Trail-blazers- of-sorts, they’ve proved that if you hold on to your dreams and pursue them relentlessly, you can achieve them without a doubt!
Their story is an inspiring one that deserves to be told because it is all about the triumph of human spirit over adversity, obstacles and mammoth challenges. It’s also about giving back to society and contributing to humanity. That’s the reason why they were even acknowledged by the crown as both Dr. Kantilal Patel and Ranjna received the Queen’s Service Medal for the exemplary service to the community and being the biggest health provider to the Maori, Pacific and Indian community.
Fixing an appointment for a together interview wasn’t quite difficult. But eventually meeting the busy couple together was, as Dr. Kantilal Patel had to rush off to the Dannemora clinic to fill in for one of the GP was on leave that day. His efficient other half readily stepped in with ease, like she is used to doing and gave me the backdrop of their life on the fast-track. Running through the quick snapshots of how her life changed 360% ever since she go married to Dr, Kanti Patel in an arranged match, she recollected the times when the kids were practically bought up at the surgery to the early years when they were in a state of complete shock on discovering to their horror that the very first practice they bought out of borrowed money from an old family friend came with a reputation---the doctor who sold it to them was arrested for fraudulent practices later.
It was Ranjna’s parents who had enough faith in their son-in-law to mortgage their own home to help him out, and her uncle whom they are eternally grateful to, for bailing them out.
Refusing to let setbacks affect his mercurial rise, the resilient and devoted young doctor was determined to bring about a change. Dr. Kanti Patel gradually succeeded in turning things around and earned himself goodwill through sheer hard work and the knack of putting systems into place.
That’s how the success story of growth and sheer ingenuity began when he started employing more doctors, bought over other clinics or merged with them and introduced something that was unheard of in the early days---centralising the data of the patients at a satellite surgery.
“For a man who had never used a keyboard, it was amazing that he thought of asking someone to specially write a programme for him so that his patients could go to any of the clinics and the doctors who treated them would have all the necessary information they need to access,” reveals Ranjna who had been more than a supportive wife as she’s been the cushion he could fall back on when the times got tough for the sincere doc who was extremely passionate about building up his practice by fair means.
“Initially when he started doing really well, he became a point of criticism for the hierarchy who wondered how one doctor could handle so many patients,” recollects Ranjna who revealed how her husband worked 12 hours a day and then went for house visits. “But Kanti always believed that good service to the patients is your best marketing tool,” explains the New Zealand born Ranjna with a charming accent as she admits being quite content to live in the same house for the last 30 years, mainly because her husband has always believed in putting back whatever they’ve earned into the practice.
Today, the dynamic duo have managed to amalgamate 45 doctors under one roof and provide the best service to hundred thousand patients --- albeit, with lots of challenges facing them, like workforce migrating to Australia for a better lifestyle.
“Another challenge is to constantly update the system and think of ways how we can innovate and improve our service without the patients loosing easy access to the doctors, or our common values of quality, care and professionalism, ” says Dr. Kantilal Patel whom I caught up with a couple of week later.
The visionary doctor with a spiritual bent of mind also spoke volumes about the Swaminarayan temple and what inspired him to build it. “I had the good fortune of meeting the 6th direct descendant of Lord Swaminarayan in New Zealand who really inspired me. Just meeting him and being in his presence was an uplifting experience. Later, it was help of Vasantbhai Shukla, a scholarly Brahmin who helped me to understand the scriptures and the true essence of Hinduism.”
As the journey of enlightenment began, the prolific doctor decided to build a haven of peace and tranquility, the Swaminarayan temple in Papatoetoe, not so much for the beautiful architectural structure but because it would give the community a chance to nurture their souls and seek the divine. “Our ego is our biggest enemy,” he expounds, “So it’s important to have a sense of discrimination when thoughts crowd our mind. Since none of us are perfect we need to seek him out. Whether we do it by ourselves or through a guru is up to us. But we need to practice spirituality in our day-to-day lives and not just in the temple.”
Which is what the good doctor who has recently been conferred the Distinguished Fellowship from the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, does. The philanthropic doctor who has always done the hard yards as he expanded the practice, still firmly believes in growth with sustainability and cost-effective medical delivery from the ETHC which even has 25 shareholders now.
What’s even more creditable is that instead of just celebrating the contribution he has made to the community at large, Dr. Kantilal Patel still has other multi-hued dreams to accomplish. The zealous doctor wants to consolidate and duplicate the unique model of cost effective model of primary healthcare that he has created, in India someday. “There is nothing to beat the feeling of doing something good in your own homeland. And the big plus is the human resources that are readily available in India.”
Obviously, for this illustrious doctor who is a year shy of sixty, there are miles to go as he leaves his footprints on the sands of both the countries he loves and respects.
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