“Managing a hospital is not about money making or brand making, it is about taking care of people” says Mrs Amita Dave. From managing a family of four siblings, being a motherless child, to managing one of the best spine care hospital’s in Asia, this is Mrs Amita Dave, one of the finest executives there can be. “Stavya is not a
company or a brand for us, it is home” says Mrs Dave. Stavya started this journey in 2004, with Dr Dave and his team managing the medical care, and Mrs Dave and her team managing everything else. “Everything else is a lot of stuff, only managers and CEOs would understand” she said, with a smile. She believes working with a team is like managing family members, understanding their needs is equally important.
Being a sangeet visharad, she is a very fine singer and music lover. Music is gods gift to humans, she believes. “One hour of music, either singing or playing an instrument, changes the way you think” says the mellifluous.
How do you manage home and hospital together?
Well, frankly, it’s difficult! But its not about managing them, its about helping them and listening to them. When we try to manage people, they tend to become autonomous. Try not to manage them, just be receptive and they will do whatever you want them to.
Tell us more about stavya?
Stavya literally means Lord Krishna. There’s a story in Bhagwat Gita, about Lord Krishna treating Kubja’s spine deformity. We believe in giving the best medical care possible, exclusively for spine related disorders. We have never branded or marketed our hospital. It became a business and now a private limited company because people and patients wanted us to deliver.
We never thought of making a business or a company out of the medical profession. We just kept working for hours, just because patients needed our skills.
What is the need for a lifestyle modification center?
We see patients with various spine disorders, among all age groups. Most of the diseases like osteoporosis, can be delayed in aged people. Ergonomic lifestyle changes can help prevent 90% of spine ailments. We believe, spreading awareness on lifestyle modification and making a center where you can get real advice for ergonomics and lifestyle can help the community.
How does your family look up to you?
My family has grown up in the business with us. Everything we went through in the course of developing has been a part of our family’s life. Dinner table discussions about managing patient’s workload, to discussing future plans to keep up the good work on our vacations, this has been the journey. Every member of my family
has been working for stavya, unknowingly.
How do you plan on growing further?
We believe, spending money on technology and advancing our surgical and medical skills is important. Making a huge infrastructure and spending on beautification is not our priority. We are the only Spine Surgical Center in Asia with two O Arms, world’s most advanced technology for spine surgery. Investing in the technology which helps our precision at affordable cost is our way. Rather than investing in stuff and marketing it, we believe in need based growth of the business.
What would you advise young CEOs?
Never try to manage people, don’t impose things on people. It won’t work! Learn from experiences of your life, at home, at work, at vacations. Managing healthcare or any other business is not about growing in the financial way only. Human values, understanding the needs of the society and taking responsibility for what you do is important.
