Ms. Upasana Arora serves as the CEO and Director of Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital in Ghaziabad, NCR. She is dedicated to providing high-quality healthcare to her community and has implemented a pricing structure aimed at offering affordable care without compromising on advanced technology. Upasana is responsible for overseeing the hospital’s administration and strategic growth. She believes in continuous education and has pursued various programs, including the Quality Leadership Program from Harvard Medical School and management programs from IIM Ahmedabad. Upasana has a strong commitment to patient safety and privacy, regularly reviewing these aspects during hospital rounds. She maintains an open-door policy, welcoming all staff and clinical colleagues to meet with her, regardless of their role or designation.
Upasana’s leadership is guided by values such as personal care, respect for all, creating a homely atmosphere for both patients and staff, and fostering open communication. She actively participates in meetings and continuing education events within her organization and finalizes policies and procedures before implementation.
The Company
The journey of Yashoda Super Speciality Hospitals began 33 years ago, following the unfortunate passing of Late Yashoda Ji, who was Upasana’s mother-in-law and diagnosed with cancer. The family worked tirelessly to improve her health, but tragically, she passed away. During her illness, the family faced the challenge of having to travel to other cities like Mumbai for state-of-the-art treatment since there was no such healthcare center in Ghaziabad.
In response to this need, the family decided to establish a healthcare facility in Ghaziabad to ensure that people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, wouldn’t have to travel far for advanced medical care. They started with a secondary care hospital with 100 beds in 1990 and later expanded to 300 beds in 2000. Subsequently, a tertiary care hospital was established in 2006, followed by the opening of a quaternary care hospital in 2017. This journey reflects their commitment to providing accessible and advanced healthcare to the community.
Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital’s future plans include establishing new centers, such as a 1200-bedded hospital, Yashoda Medicity, in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad; a 300-bedded Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital in Noida, West; and Yashoda Medicentre in East Delhi, India. Additionally, the hospital group aims to set up offices focused on medical tourism in Europe, the Middle East, and the USA to provide quality healthcare at international standards to populations in these regions.
Commitment to Accessible Healthcare and Social Responsibility
Upasana’s vision is to provide quality healthcare to those who are often left at the end of the line, as well as to work selflessly for the betterment of society. To achieve this vision, she has undertaken various initiatives and projects. She has played a crucial role in implementing the Ayushman Bharat program, India’s largest social insurance initiative, aimed at providing accessible healthcare to all. Her hospital has been actively involved in this initiative. She is working on the ambitious goal of TB elimination in her district by adopting 5100 TB patients as part of the Prime Minister’s initiative, “Nikshya Mein Potion ka Nishchay.” This contributes to the National TB Elimination program’s target of eliminating TB in India by 2025.
Upasana serves as the Chairperson of the Special Olympics Delhi Chapter. Through this role, she promotes the well-being of individuals with special needs, including the blind and mentally challenged, by providing them with free health check-ups and suitable office spaces to work in. She is involved in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, including collaborating with Olympus to set up mobile vans equipped with endoscopic facilities. These vans bring endoscopic services directly to people, making healthcare more accessible. She has adopted a girls’ residential school and various NGOs working for the girl child. She provides free health check-ups to the students and supports their educational needs. Additionally, she has adopted the village of Masauta, where she oversees healthcare requirements.
Upasana contributes to healthcare in high-altitude areas of Uttarakhand by providing ambulances and medical equipment to the Swami Vivekanand Health Mission Society, ensuring that people in remote regions have access to medical services. Through her dedication and various initiatives, Upasana is actively working to make healthcare accessible and improve the well-being of marginalized communities in India.
Ethical Patient-Centric Care
Upasana’s company provides a wide range of healthcare services covering various medical specialties and super specialties, along with comprehensive diagnostic and rehabilitative facilities, all available within a single healthcare facility. While their current focus in quaternary care involves kidney transplants, there are plans to expand and offer liver transplant facilities in the near future.
The company’s core values are centered around delivering healthcare with a patient-first approach. They prioritize providing personalized care with a strong emphasis on quality, aiming to achieve positive patient outcomes. This patient-centric approach is how the company distinguishes itself in the healthcare industry.
An important aspect of their commitment to ethical healthcare is their status as one of the few signatories of the Ethical Principles in Health Care (EPiHC) in India. They adhere to the ten operating principles outlined by EPiHC:
- Respecting Laws and regulations
- Making a positive contribution to society
- Promoting high-quality standards
- Conducting business matters responsibly
- Respecting the environment
- Upholding patient rights
- Safeguarding information and using data responsibly
- Preventing discrimination, harassment, and bullying
- Protecting and empowering staff
- Supporting ethical practices and preventing harm
These principles guide the company in conducting its healthcare operations with integrity, responsibility, and a strong commitment to ethical practices, ensuring the well-being of both patients and staff.
Balanced Approach to Leadership
Upasana believes that having a single leader with a well-defined philosophy that permeates throughout the company can create a unified and centralized approach to organizational management. This approach helps improve control and enhances the execution of work since there is clarity about the roles and responsibilities of different staff members, leading to smoother achievement of objectives. However, Upasana also values the importance of developing leaders within their respective domains to effectively manage and lead specific areas of the organization. This dual approach, combining centralized guidance and empowered domain leaders, contributes to a well-rounded and effective management structure.
Wisdom for Emerging Leaders
Upasana’s advice for someone entering a leadership position for the first time centers on self-belief and leading by example. She emphasizes the importance of believing in oneself and working diligently to accomplish goals. In her view, actions are more impactful than words and are a reflection of one’s personality and leadership qualities. Upasana advises new leaders to lead by example, meaning that they should be willing to do the tasks and exhibit the behaviors they expect from their team members. This approach can inspire trust and respect among the team and foster a positive work environment.
Making a Positive Impact in the Lives of Others
Upasana’s perspective on success goes beyond monetary achievements. She believes that true success lies in making a positive impact in the lives of others, especially in areas that matter most to them. This impact can take various forms, such as creating job opportunities for those in need or providing guidance to individuals who are unsure about their goals. Upasana’s own challenging experiences in childhood have shaped her desire to be the kind of supportive figure she needed back then. Her definition of success is closely tied to the satisfaction of seeing a patient at her hospital smile, knowing that she has made a positive difference in their life through healthcare and support.
Vision for Sustainable Healthcare
Upasana holds a strong belief in the importance of focusing on processes rather than individual heroics within the healthcare industry. She recognizes that individuals may change over time, but well-established systems and processes have the potential to endure and provide consistency and reliability in healthcare delivery. This perspective emphasizes the significance of building robust, sustainable, and efficient healthcare systems that prioritize patient care and safety over individual efforts.
Building a Hub of Innovation and Compassionate Care
Upasana is committed to making her hospital the best in terms of facilities and technologies, with a strong emphasis on continuous innovation. She also places a high priority on creating a patient-friendly environment where patients feel as comfortable as they do in their own homes. Her vision is for Yashoda Hospital to be a place where patients are happy to seek medical care and consider it their second home when they are unwell.
In addition to prioritizing patient satisfaction, Upasana also strives to create an employee-friendly workplace. She wants her employees to feel a sense of joy when they come to work, fostering a positive and supportive work environment for all staff members. This commitment to both patients and employees reflects her dedication to overall well-being and excellence in healthcare.
