A need for better surgical care led Dr. Mit Desai to establish The Surgicalist Group, offering dedicated inpatient acute care surgeons to hospital partners. Today, under the same philosophy, he impacts hundreds through his mission work abroad.
Tampa, FL (February 18, 2020) – Surgeon-entrepreneur and founder of The Surgicalist Group, Dr. Mit Desai, Chief Executive Officer, returned to India recently on a second mission trip for the non-profit, Band-Aid Foundation, a charity serving those without access to medical care through various professional health care volunteers. A great majority of India’s population lacks proper access to health care and the means to provide for it, and so what might be considered a routine procedure in the United States, is difficult for most to come by. Guided by this charitable foundation, Dr. Desai, along with a team of surgeon colleagues, travel to remote regions of India to perform surgical procedures such as hernia repairs, hysterectomies, appendectomies, and breast biopsies.
During this most recent trip, Dr. Desai aided a local hospital in Borsad, a city of 63,377 has 61% unemployment, and the number of patients needing surgery far exceeded the number of available surgeons. In just a few days’ time, several individuals who would have otherwise not been able to have surgery, benefitted from these charitable surgical services.
“In India, a hernia can impair a person’s livelihood, and their family for whom they provide also suffers,” remarked Dr. Desai. “Just one hernia repair can impact not one, but possibly dozens of lives. Oftentimes these patients are labor workers and are in so much pain that they cannot work to provide for their families. By repairing their hernias, they can return to work and put food on the table.”
When he founded his inpatient acute surgery organization, The Surgicalist Group, in 2007, Dr. Desai wanted better care for patients requiring emergent and urgent surgery. He found patients often went days, sometimes weeks, without the proper medical attention they needed based on the general surgeon’s availability. And so, from the catalyst to begin a new standard of care, emerged core values that are cornerstones of The Surgicalist Group – compassion and stewardship. These core values are also what will draw Dr. Desai to continue providing mission work in India. In a place where healthcare is not a right, surgeons truly can impact hundreds of lives in one visit. Here at home, Dr. Desai and his colleagues have a strong track record of providing charitable services to those who are under or uninsured in the communities the organization serves nationwide. Reflecting on his charitable work, Dr. Desai reminds us he and his colleagues made a commitment when they took the Hippocratic Oath, “… to remember that I remain a member of society with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.”
About The Surgicalist Group
The Surgicalist Group delivers an innovative, in-hospital acute care surgery model to hospitals nationwide. As a surgeon-led organization, we advance the surgical standard of care through engaged surgicalist champions who leverage innovation, practice evidence-based care, make data-driven decision, and are experts on how to deliver value to our patients and hospital partners. In collaboration with the OR, ED, and community physicians, we ensure our hospital partners achieve improved quality, efficiency, patient satisfaction, and financial outcomes. To learn more, visit TheSurgicalist.com
