Interviewtimes 
Shalini Kothakonda
In the world of the health sector in Bhubaneswar, a few hospitals have carved out a niche. Shree Hospitals is one of them to be in the illustrious company of hospitals that are wedded to the cause of patient care 24×7. In fact, the hospital’s motto underscores it- ‘Hands that Serve, Hearts that Care’. Thanks to the acumen, hard work and dexterity of the Chief promoter, Ms Shalini Kothakonda, Shree Hospitals has climbed the ladder of success with elan. She leaves no stone unturned to execute the strategy to be the best in the game. After her graduation in Microbiology, she augmented her academics by doing Masters in Hospital Administration from Hyderabad.
Having completed her Masters, she worked in various hospitals in India and abroad and gained experience in Hospital administration. Her father is a doctor and owns a 300-bedded hospital in Warangal & her mother is a retired magistrate. Apart from being the chief promoter at the Shree Hospitals, she is the channel of conduit between operation, administration, business development and service. She wears all these hats with equal aplomb. The glory of Shree Hospitals further grows manifold with the presence of state of the art diagnostic center called Shree Usha Diagnostics. The unique selling proposition (USP) of this centre is an advanced 128 slice cardiac city and radiology and a virology lab. Being a visionary business leader, she is meticulous enough to plan for the future endeavour which includes Shree Industries: a manufacturing unit of implants which are imported from other countries.
To counter the challenge posed by the pandemic, not only did Shree Hospital equip itself to deal with the health distress of the city but also participated in the discussion process along with the government machinery. Eulogizing the steps taken by the state government to counter the pandemic, Ms Shalini attributes the successful handling of Covid-19 to the constructive steps taken by the government and swift action.
Being a woman of substance, Ms. Shalini has a compassionate heart for women of the country. She believes women of India have already been empowered. In every possible realm, they have proven their skills and mettle. It’s high time, we stopped playing the comparison game. On being asked about the current status of women in Bhubaneswar and Odisha, she reckons, women in Bhubaneswar are progressive on the work front. She is all praise and overjoyed as she is showered with a lot of love, encouragement and affection in Bhubaneswar. She added one more feather to her glorious cap by winning the Times Health Icon Award, 2019.
Highlighting the importance of back-end jobs like administration, finance and hospital management to provide comfort to the doctors, she feels, this recognition is very special. She is magnanimous enough to give the credit to her staff without whose relentless hard work the achievement would not have been possible. So much so that during the natural calamity like FANI, the staff members had to stay away from their respective family just to provide good service in the hospital.
Written By- Charan Singh
