Thane’s ‘EYE’dol
Wavikar Eye Institute (WEI) is one of the state-of-the-art tertiary eye care hospitals (NABH Accredited since 2011) in Thane spread over a sprawling space of 35,000 square feet, providing an avalanche of comprehensive eye care treatments all under one roof. Started in 1996, WEI has gone from strength to strength over the last 25 years and has served close to a whopping sum of four lakh patients.
Dr. Chandrashekhar Wavikar and Dr. Vaishali Wavikar have been the staunch pillars of WEI. The husband-wife duo has left no stone unturned in offering the best quality eye care diagnosis and treatment to their patients. Cataract surgeries, glaucoma,lasik, vitreo retinal services, cornea related disorders, pediatric ophthalmology, oculoplasty and facial aesthetics, neuro oncology and emergency trauma, inter-alia all come under the WEI umbrella (For more details, read separate article).
Dr. Chandrashekhar, an established eye surgeon, who once dreamt of being a pediatrician, says, “When I was doing my MBBS, I wanted to do pediatrics since I love children. However, during my college, whenever I worked in the pediatric ward, I couldn’t bear the sufferings endured by the little ones. Meanwhile, I switched to working in the ophthalmology ward just after my grandmother’s cataract surgery. Soon I realized that ophthalmology was something that gave me immense satisfaction.”
Dr. Chandrashekhar, after completing his education from JJ Hospital started working as a medical officer in Mulund’s ESIS Hospital. At the same time, he started with his own practice in Thane. “Fortunately it was a smooth start for me, except for the first month when I could not even recover the rent of the space. After that there was no looking back. I had patients coming from Thane and surrounding areas. My practice was flourishing and in order to devote my full time to it I quit the job as medical officer within three months,” he states.
Right from day one, WEI has followed a patient centric approach. If a patient visits once, then he/she continues to be associated with the hospital for lifetime. The satisfied patients spread the name of WEI by word of mouth and this has been the secret of the hospital’s success.
WEI is known to be a hospital boasting of international standards. The institute has been determined to deliver quality eye care and impeccable service to all its patients at affordable rates. It is a super specialty eye clinic providing all services under one roof. The hospital is a well-designed set up to curate all the needs of the patients with state of the art outpatient clinics, screening rooms, counseling rooms, operation theatres, waiting lounges, day care rooms, in-house optical and medical shops and cafeteria. “The whole idea of having such a full-fledged and well-equipped set up was that to ensure that people in and around Thane do not have to travel miles for basic eye treatments. I used to come across people, who travelled to Mumbai for basic eye surgeries. It was a pity that in Thane, which is just adjacent to Mumbai, did not have any state of the art eye hospitals in those days. I sensed the need there and thus was determined to build a top notch facility for our people,” elucidates Dr. Wavikar.
WEI and technology have always gone hand in hand. Among the many firsts, WEI was the first in Asia to introduce Lensx, true laser for cataract surgery (For more details, read separate article) These advancements were brought about in 2011. In addition to these, new treatments in lasik namely, contoura and streamlight were introduced first by WEI in Thane district. “I am an ardent reader of research studies that are done in our field. I follow the latest trends and developments in ophthalmology and I am proactive in bringing them in-house which will ensure quick and correct diagnosis and treatment of eye related disorders,” avers Dr. Wavikar.
Innovation based on the latest trend is the bread and butter of any field. Cognizant of this, WEI, in 2019 started a clinic for dry eye management (For more details, read separate article). With more and more people exposed to computers and mobile phones for longer periods of time, the incidences of dry eyes has picked up pace. Around 20 years back, there used to be no treatment for dry eyes. Later drops were introduced. But After 2010, other treatments were brought to the fore.Similarly, keratoconus clinic, a newly developing branch in Ophthalmology was recently started with latest modalities of treatment available for the patients (For more details, read separate article).
Over the years, various eye clinics have come up in Thane. Talking about competition, Dr. Wavikar explains, “If you treat competition as a threat you will be worried about it. If you treat it as an opportunity, then you will thrive on it. Honestly I am not too anxious about the competition. It is a part and parcel of any game. I believe that if I follow the right protocol, equip my hospital with expert staff and advanced technology, then I will be ahead of competition. Competition makes you work harder and excel.”
Just before signing off, Dr. Wavikar sheds light on the ‘Wavikar Eye Institute- College of optometry’. He describes, “Since my college days, I wanted to have my an educational institute. I expressed my love for teaching for about 10 years when I was the assistant professor at Kalwa Hospital. Seeking the required experience, the founding stone of College of Optometry was laid in 2011. The curriculum is recognized by MUHS including, Bachelor’s in Optometry, Diploma in Ophthalmic Technical Assistant (DOTA). In addition to the practical experience, the students are given training in communication skills, computers, accounts and management to attain overall development. The college is proud to introduce the Earn and learn scheme. The main objective of the scheme is to develop a student as a multifaceted personality with academic excellence and a commitment to society” (For more details, read separate article).
In 2011, WEI became the first eye care hospital in and around Thane to get the NABH accreditation, which is a certificate of patient safety and quality of care. In the same year, Dr. Wavikar established Smt. Indirabai Wavikar charitable wing to serve the underpriviledged section of the society. In addition, WEI is known for other CSR activities like mobile eye clinics and eye bank (For more details, read separate article).
With its immense dedication and hunger to serve the society, Wavikar Eye Institute has brought about a paradigm change in the eye care landscape of Thane and made the city the most sought after place in the MMR region for ophthalmological diagnosis and treatments.
Read E-Magazine : Wavikar-June 2021
