The Hindu : National : “It is not a job but a calling”

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National

“It is not a job but a calling”

Special Correspondent

E.S. Krishnamoorthy new CEO Voluntary Health Service

— Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

HONOUR AND RESPONSIBILITY: C.V. Krishnaswami, head, Diabetology Department; E.S. Krishnamoorthy, honorary secretary, VHS (centre); and M.S. Swaminathan, president, VHS, at a press meet in Chennai on Thursday.

CHENNAI: E.S. Krishnamoorthy, who holds the T.S. Srinivasan Chair in Clinical Neurosciences at the Voluntary Health Services (VHS) has been appointed the honorary secretary and chief executive officer of the institution for three years.

Dr. Krishnamoorthy thus becomes the third secretary of the prestigious institution founded by K.S. Sanjivi, after V.S. Subramaniam and N.S. Murali, who passed away recently. He will step into the shoes of Dr. Murali, who was the VHS’s longest-serving secretary, for about three decades.

Announcing this at a press conference on Thursday, VHS president M.S. Swaminathan said Dr. Krishnamoorthy would hold the post for three years. He added that the Board of Trustees was confident that Dr. Krishnamoorthy would continue the hoary tradition of the VHS and also contribute to attracting new talent and expanding its activities.

Dr. Krishnamoorthy graduated in Medicine, went on to do post-graduation in psychiatry and involved himself in community-based research. He received the Paul Hamlyn fellowship to train in Neurology, with the Institute of Neurology, London, and went on to train in neurology and neuropsychiatry under the aegis of the Royal College of Physicians. More recently, he became the youngest Indian neurologist and first Indian psychiatrist to be directly elected to the Fellowship of all three Royal Colleges of Physicians – London, Glasgow and Edinburgh. He has served the VHS since 2002.

Deeming it a “great honour and responsibility,” Dr. Krishnamoorthy said as many others had stressed before him, “it was not a job, but a calling.” The standards set by his predecessors were extremely high and the VHS had seen a lifecycle of tremendous growth and consolidation under Dr. Murali, he said, adding that his agenda was to make it more contemporary by leveraging technology for expansion.

Sanjivi’s model is of the hub-and-spoke, one central institution serving as a secondary care institution with primary health centres in the form of mini health centres, embedded in the community. This way, health care would be taken to the doorstep of people without excluding anyone.

He added that young talent could be attracted by projecting the VHS as an institution where they could acquire rich clinical experience and participate in path-breaking research and training.

C.V. Krishnaswamy, head, Department of Diabetics and a long serving member, hoped that the VHS, under the stewardship of Dr. Krishnamoorthy, would be able to bridge the gap between popularity and fame. While the VHS was undoubtedly famous, popularity, in terms of numbers, was still low.

N. Gopalakrishnan, treasurer and son-in-law of founder Sanjivi, said the 50-year-old organisation had received support, including financial grants, from the State and Central governments, and a number of corporate entities in the State. Over a 100 doctors give of their time willingly in order to keep the VHS running. S. Janaki, medical superintendent, said Dr. Krishnamoorthy’s skills as an organiser would be a great help in running an institution that operates on the principle that there should be no compromise on patient care.

S. Venkitaraman, managing trustee, VHS, said though it was very difficult to replace a man like Dr. Murali, Dr. Krishnamoorthy was eminently suited for the post and would fulfil all expectations.

Prof. Swaminathan also announced the launch of the first Ph.D. programme offered by the VHS in conjunction with Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University through the Institute of Neurological Sciences. Twelve positions will be offered in the interdisciplinary Ph.D. programme in the fields of neuropsychiatry, clinical neuroscience and disability.

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