An “Eye”deal Hospital

Niikhil Ballal & Juili Kulkarni

A one stop solution to all the eye care problems is none other than our Thane’s very own Isha Netralaya started by Dr. Smitesh Shah, Dr. Sonal Shah, Dr. Amit Nene & Dr. Siddharth Seth in 2000. Boasting of highly advanced technology in-house, coupled with expert and empathetic doctors and skilled support staff, Isha Netralaya offers quality eye care services to all classes of society.

 The twin opening of Isha Netralaya took place in Kalyan and Ambernath in 2000. Dr. Smitesh Shah with Dr. Siddharth Seth, Dr. Amit Nene & Dr. Sonal Shah formed a complementing team and brought specialized services to Thane. Currently, Isha services are available at two centres in Thane and one each in Kalyan and Ambernath. Additionally, there are satellite clinics at Shahpur, Murbad, Vangni and Titwala. Isha Netralaya is the first eye hospital to have three out of the total four NABH accredited centers.

Prior to starting Isha Netralaya, Dr. Shah, a qualified Ophthalmologist had his own private practice. After gaining a bounty of a decade long experience, he took a step further as he formed a team of well-qualified and expert doctors with tremendous potential and caliber to set up Isha Netralaya. Forming a perfectly complementing team of 15 doctors and a good strength of 150 highly qualified staff, Isha services were brought to Thane.

Just like any other start-up, Isha Netralaya faced certain challenges in the initial stage ranging from finances to infrastructure including staff, technology, among many. Overcoming these challenges with grit and determination, Dr. Shah and his team carved a name for themselves in the society.

Checking one lakh patients in a year, Isha Netralaya is unequivocally the busiest hospital and largest eye care group in Thane district. In its relatively short but successful journey so far, Isha Netralaya has given an improved “vision” and splendid “sight” to a whopping number of 12 lakh patients. Despite the huge numbers, Isha Netralaya is a well-organized set-up that strives to minimize the waiting period and gives priority to senior citizens and children.

“On an average we have 80-100 complicated cases in a month, including eye transplants. Dealing with such cases is definitely not a one man’s job. For this, we have an expert team of super specialists, who have worked and trained in some of the best eye hospitals in India like Sankara Nethralaya (Chennai), LV Prasad Eye Institute (Hyderabad) and Aravind Eye Hospital (Madurai). If required we also encourage the patients to take a second opinion in-house, since we have three consultants for each department,” said Dr. Shah. Talking about complex cases, Dr. Amit Nene, uvea and vitreoretinal consultant added, “I vividly remember of an instance when an old gentleman refused to get operated because of the complexity of the case. However, our retina team gave him confidence and convinced him to go for the operation. After the complex procedure, the gentleman successfully regained his vision.” Sharing another experience, Dr. Sonal Shah, a cataract and refractive surgeon, reminisced, “We had a patient coming down all the way from Ethiopia for a corneal surgery. Back home, she was unable to find a suitable treatment for her problem. She was advised by her local doctors to visit Isha Netralaya, courtesy our internationally recognized quality services. At Isha Netralaya we not only advised her good treatment but also cured her with perfection. After her operation, she expressed her heartfelt gratitude towards our entire team.” Dr. Siddharth Sheth, an Ophthalmologist and super specialist in pediatric and neuro ophthalmology fondly recalled, “We had a six month old baby girl suffering from bi-lateral cataract. The bundle of joy refrained from social smiling since the poor baby could not see clearly. I operated her eye one and as soon as she regained her vision there was an instant broad grin on her face.”

Isha Netralaya believes in continuously training its doctors and support staff which is evident from the fact that there is in-house training for the support staff that enables them to hone their skills and for the doctors there are fellowship training courses that help them to gain knowledge about the latest medical advancements and technology including technology used for performing femtolasik and femto cataract surgeries, to name a few. The doctors at Isha Netralaya are encouraged to undertake research. The hospital has an enthusiastic team of researchers who have already published 14 research papers in top quality peer reviewed journals. They also participate in numerous World Conferences which help in bringing the global knowledge home.

Talking about technology, Dr. Sonal Shah, a veteran cataract and refractive surgeon stated, “Isha Netralaya is pioneer in Maharashtra and fourth in India to introduce Z8 Nano pulse femto -laser which has significantly improved the cataract surgery outcomes, thanks to the advanced trifocal lenses providing spectacle free vision crystal clear vision”. In 2018, Isha Netralaya was recognized for using the highest number of trifocal lenses. Their cataract consultants are frequently invited for performing live surgeries demonstrations at Apex conferences in Maharashtra. Dr. Sonal added, “This technology has revolutionized the safety profile and yielded consistently accurate results for lasik surgery. We derive tremendous satisfaction from our lasik patients who smile from ear to ear after their successful surgeries.”

Apart from serving the people with best treatments and consulting expertise, Isha Netralaya is active on the social front as well. Dr. Nene stated, “We are the only eye hospital chosen by government of Maharashtra for prestigious Ayushmaan and Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya Yojana in Mumbai-Kokan area. Last year, we have catered to over 2000 patients suffering from retina problems. In addition, we have conducted eye check-up camps for more than 6000 students in seven schools of Thane.” Dr. Vidya Bawkar, a cataract, cornea and refractive surgeon, added, “We also conduct awareness programmes for eye donation and at Isha Netralayawe have a dedicated team for eye collection.We also cater to charity patients in a separate wing.” Further, Dr. Smitesh elucidated, “We conduct eye care camps for corporates and housing societies in which we also advise the people about the right diet and lifestyle to follow that will ensure protection of their eyes.” Dr. Sonal, who has close to 50,000 operations to her name added, “We provide free education and financial help to underprivileged students taking up optometry courses. Till date, we have helped 200 such students. Apart from this, we also provide support to the deserving students pursuing MBA in health and M.sc optometry.”

“India is the diabetes capital of the world. Majority of the eye problems are seen among diabetics.Therefore it is pivotal for these patients to take extra care of their eyes,” averred Dr. Nene who has performed over 1000 retinal surgeries. “Including green leafy vegetables, carrot and beetroot in your diet as well as minimizing screen exposure will help you to keep youreyes healthy,” explicated Dr. Bawkar, who has more than 10,000 cataract surgeries to her name.Specifically with respect to children, Dr. Siddharth, who has over 10,000 surgeries to his credit mentioned, “The cases of minus power glasses among children have increased significantly because of high mobile and TV usage. We therefore advise the parents to encourage their children to play outdoor instead of indoor mobile games.”

With 20 years of experience by Dr. Smitesh’s side, going ahead, “We look forward to launch an App that will help our patients book appointment without any hassle, access their reports as well as get complete information about their ailments. Apart from this, we would be working on raising the bar for our specialized service to senior citizens. At present, our doctors visit the patient’s residence and treat the patient then and there. If required, the patient is also transported to our nearest hospital by our team. We endeavour to provide the best of services at affordable rates thus catering to all sections of the society,” concluded Dr. Smitesh Shah.