Dr Srihari serves patients at the Ramachandra Raju Memorial Healthcare Hospital (RRMHH) on the Nagarjuna Cements Limited campus in Mattapalli without charging a fee; in fact, he has been known to pay for emergency care out of his own pocket.

In a society where self-interest often takes precedence over helping those in great need, Dr. J Srihari Rao of Mattampally mandal, Suryapet district, is a model of extraordinary commitment and compassion that cuts beyond traditional lines.

Dr. Srihari, a 33-time district-level award winner and two-time state-level award winner, manages the RRMHH on behalf of the locals in the region's steeply wooded areas and rolling hills. The majority of primary healthcare centers (PHCs) in the areas are only open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., leaving inhabitants with restricted access to medical facilities throughout a lengthy window of 17 hours. Dr. Srihari operates his clinic around-the-clock to address this.

“Given the geographically challenging terrain of this region, nestled amid hills and trees, the hospital regularly witnesses cases of snake bites and scorpion stings, numbering between 45 and 50 annually,” Dr Srihari tells TNIE. Over 100 patients from 30 villages in the mandal come to the hospital as outpatients daily, he adds.

He states that the hospital offers a wide range of services, including the availability of qualified staff and equipment for performing diagnostic tests on patients. Specialists who see patients at the hospital for problems connected to the eyes include an ophthalmologist, a gynecologist, a pediatrician, and a cardiologist who come once a month and every three months, respectively.

“As many as 1,366 units of blood have been collected through 18 blood donation camps conducted by the hospital this year,” Dr Srihari mentions, adding that they also organise health camps in different villages every month where they hand out many essential medicines to the needy.  

Dr Srihari said they transfer critical patients in an RRMHH ambulance to hospitals in Hyderabad for free when the hospital is unable to treat a patient because of problems or lack of experience.

G Muniyamma, a Simhapuri resident, bemoans the lack of medical professionals at PHCs and says that Dr. Srihari is like the Almighty, capable of curing any illness. In a similar vein, V Ramachandru of Mattapally village claims that the physician frequently travels to the hinterlands to attend to patients who are in dire need. He claims that although government hospitals do not carry some necessary medications, they do provide free medication to patients.

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