From small center to full-fledged hospital, Dr. Purna Chandra Reddy's dream to serve kidney patients comes true

Hyderabad: It was a dream for Dr. Purna Chandra Reddy to serve kidney patients. One day, he quit his job to start a specialized hospital of his own. Come 2001, Dr. Reddy along with his two urology colleagues started a kidney specialty center in Hyderabad. It was a small step but a very important aspect that changed the paradigm of kidney treatment.

Twelve years later In 2013, the Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology was born with three urologists coming together. The first center was at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad.

"Teamwork is very important in practicing medicine to get the best results in patients," says Dr. Purna Chandra Reddy, senior urologist and Executive Director at the Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology. Teamwork for doctors means being along with the hospital staff of nursing, paramedical, and others to monitor patients during their post-operative care as it produces positive outcomes.

"Doctor's practices are designed in a manner where they move from one hospital to another. I made it a point to stay at a single hospital from morning to night. This worked with patients as they were happy to know that the doctor will not leave them after the surgery. Post-operative care is a concern for every patient to date. For my patients as I was not going anywhere, it had a positive impact," Dr. Reddy explains.

When they started the facility, the problems of kidney stones and kidney failure were rampant. "I and my two friends moved out of OGH to private practice to concentrate on the specialty of kidney, ureters, bladder, and urethra care. This was done seeing the emerging disease patterns," he said. With 29 years of experience as a specialist in the field of urology, Dr. Reddy finds that his decision to have a special center has helped thousands of patients.

By 2022, they have three centers in Hyderabad at Hi-Tech city, Dilshuknagar, and Vikrampuri in Secunderabad. They also have a center in Visakhapatnam, Siliguri in West Bengal, and Chennai. There is now a team of eight urologists who are a part of the AINU group and the focus is to mentor medical students and give them the hands-on-experience in nephron-uro care.

"Every alternate month, we have urology students who are provided surgical training. This is done free of cost. Our centers are designed with the best of equipment, facilities, and mentors to enable research. Our main goal of the expansion was that research must be carried out in this field as it will give us insights into the emerging disease patterns in the Indian population," Dr. Reddy says.

An auditorium for students to watch live surgeries is carried out on regular basis at the Banjara Hills center. Research from India in this specialty is important as kidney and prostrate cancers are on a rise. Since medical data is largely derived from the West, Dr. Reddy believes it is important to collate and evaluate Indian data to understand the incidence and patterns of disease.

Dr. Reddy says, "We are seeing kidney cancers in the younger age group which is the most productive age of life. This phenomenon in the last decade has raised a lot of questions. What is going wrong in the productive age group? Is it the food, lifestyle, or patterns of work which are leading to these cancers?" To ensure best treatment practices, AINU along with the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology has a tumor board that meets regularly to discuss the pathology and medical oncology to offer the best treatment to patients. These latest practices enforce confidence in cancer patients as they are assured of the best treatment available to them.