Dr. Devi Shetty: The Heart Surgeon Who Redefined Affordable Healthcare

In the small village of Kinnigoli, Karnataka, in 1953, a young Devi Prasad Shetty, the eighth of nine children, heard about Christiaan Barnard’s groundbreaking heart transplant. “That’s it,” he told his schoolteacher, eyes wide with determination, “I’m going to be a heart surgeon.” That spark of inspiration set him on a path to transform not just lives but the entire landscape of healthcare in India and beyond.

Early Influences: A Mission Born from Compassion

Growing up in a modest family, Devi saw poverty’s toll firsthand. “I’d see patients at government hospitals who couldn’t afford even basic medicines,” he later shared in an interview with Medical Solutions. “That’s when I realized—if a solution isn’t affordable, it’s not a solution.” His drawing teacher, Achutha Acharya, spotted his potential early, tutoring him through his struggles with math, which Devi called “a recurring nightmare.” That extra push helped him excel, landing him at St. Aloysius School in Mangalore and later at Kasturba Medical College, where he earned his MBBS in 1979 and MS in General Surgery in 1982.

His training took him to Guy’s Hospital in London from 1983 to 1989, where he earned a Fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS). “London showed me what precision in cardiac surgery could achieve,” he reflected, “but I knew I had to bring that back home.” Returning to India in 1989, he joined B.M. Birla Hospital in Kolkata, where he made history in 1992 by performing India’s first neonatal heart surgery on a 21-day-old baby named Ronnie. “It was terrifying, but when that baby survived, I knew we could push boundaries,” he told a colleague.

A Sacred Trust: Caring for Mother Teresa

Devi’s reputation soared when he treated Mother Teresa after her heart attack in 1996, performing her angioplasty and becoming her personal physician for the last five years of her life. “She’d join me on rounds, watching me with the kids,” he recalled, his voice softening. “Her faith in service shaped me—she showed me medicine is about humanity, not just skill.” Their bond inspired his lifelong mission to make healthcare accessible to all.

Narayana Health: The Heart of Innovation

In 2001, Devi founded Narayana Hrudayalaya (now Narayana Health) in Bangalore, a multi-specialty hospital built on the radical idea that quality care doesn’t have to be expensive. “Charity isn’t scalable,” he told Harvard Business School, “but good business principles are.” Starting with a 300-bed facility in Bommasandra, Narayana Health grew into a network of 47 healthcare facilities, including a hospital in the Cayman Islands, with over 6,000 beds by 2025. His goal? To expand to 30,000 beds and slash the cost of heart surgery to $800, a fraction of the $106,385 charged at places like Cleveland Clinic.

Devi’s approach earned him the nickname “Henry Ford of heart surgery.” His hospitals perform 30–35 surgeries daily—compared to 1–2 in U.S. hospitals—using an assembly-line model that maximizes efficiency without compromising quality. “We negotiate directly with equipment makers, buy cheaper scrubs, use cross-ventilation instead of AC,” he explained to Forbes. “Every rupee saved means another patient treated.” He also pioneered techniques like minimally invasive surgeries using microchip cameras, pulmonary endarterectomies, and valve repairs in newborns.

Yeshasvini: Healthcare for the Masses

In 2003, Devi partnered with the Karnataka government to launch the Yeshasvini Micro-Health Insurance Scheme, a game-changer for poor farmers. For just Rs 10 a month, it covers 805 surgical procedures, including 131,000 heart operations, benefiting over 4 million people. “Small contributions from many can fund big care,” he told The Economic Times. The scheme’s success—1.2 million surgeries by 2024—proved that affordable healthcare could be sustainable.

Global Vision and Digital Innovation

Devi’s ambitions stretched beyond India. In 2012, he collaborated with Ascension Health to build a 2,000-bed healthcare city in the Cayman Islands. He also signed MOUs with Karnataka and Gujarat to develop 5,000-bed hospitals in Bangalore and Ahmedabad. His 2018 patent for a “System and Method for Facilitating Delivery of Patient Care” introduced digital health platforms, telemedicine, and data analytics to streamline care. “Technology will cut costs and save lives,” he told Siemens Healthineers.

A Legacy of Impact

With over 120,000 heart surgeries, 40% on children, Devi’s work has saved countless lives. His hospitals provide substantial free care, especially for poor children, earning him the title “Bypasswale Baba” in rural India. Awards like the Padma Shri (2004), Padma Bhushan (2012), and The Economist Innovation Award (2011) reflect his impact. As Chairman of IIM Bangalore’s Board of Governors from 2018, he brought his vision to leadership training, saying, “The world of business is more complex than an open chest, but it’s all about making good decisions.”

The Human Touch

Despite his billionaire status—his stake in Narayana Health is worth over $620 million—Devi remains grounded. “He’s still the doctor who walks into the OR in his blue scrubs, joking with his team,” said a nurse at Narayana Health. His patients, from infants to icons like Sourav Ganguly, whom he treated in 2021, praise his empathy. “I’m not here to make money,” he told Global Indian. “The idea was always to save lives.”

Dr. Devi Shetty’s work isn’t just about fixing hearts—it’s about breaking barriers. From a village boy inspired by a transplant to a global pioneer, he’s shown that innovation, compassion, and scale can make healthcare a right, not a privilege. His dream, as he told The Print in 2022, is simple: “India will prove the wealth of a nation has nothing to do with the quality of healthcare its citizens enjoy.”