Dr. Debasish Bhattacharya (DB), Chairman, Disha Eye Hospitals, started his practice in his home- town Barrackpore in1985, more by compulsion than by choice. 

It was NOT easy in the suburbs! Everybody used to flock to the city for treatment. Spectacle shops were the only centres of eye-care in the periphery. DB tried quite a few of them but was not satisfied with the quality of eye care infrastructure provided! He could do so much better in a different set- up.

THEN came the sea- change of IOL (intra- ocular lens) and Microsurgery! Dr. Debasish Bhattacharya took to this surgery like a fish takes to water! This dynamic Ophthalmologist was one of the first to start implanting IOLs as early as 1988. This changed everything. He developed his own clinic on the ground floor of his home in 1989. By 1993, he was doing 1,200 surgeries and seeing 20,000 patients every year! Other juniors would come to assist him so that they too could learn these new surgical skills. His college friends, Dr. Tushar Hazra (junior by one year) and Dr. Samar Basak (junior by two years) were among them. They were the best at that time. DB continuously tried to persuade them to leave their jobs so that all three of them could set up their own Hospital together, but the security blanket of their Government jobs only served to delay the inevitable. Dr. Tushar finally joined DB in 1996 and Dr. Basak followed in 1997.

So Disha Eye Hospitals, a Private Limited Companionship of three doctor friends all from the NRS Medical College, was formed on 1st May 1997 with Dr. Debasish Bhattacharya as the major share holder and Dr. Hazra and Dr. Basak having sweat equities. Dr. DB left his handsome practice (2,500 operations per year) and Dr. Hazra and Dr. Basak their teaching jobs in Medical Colleges. They all began to work full time in the new hospital for the basic salary of only Rs 10,000 per month.

Disha initially started in Dr. DB’s private premises. The early days were very tough for Dr. Hazra and Dr. Basak. All the patients were Dr. DB’s private patients. They would simply refuse to go to another doctor, but Dr. Hazra and Dr. Basak were very patient They would say “Let us see you initially and then Dr. DB will see you.” Things gradually changed and each doctor’s patient numbers increased exponentially.

The first new building of Disha was inaugurated on the 12th December 1998. It was a 20,000 sq.ft. two- storied building with three operation theatres. The companionship of these three doctor friends was an instant success. They themselves did not realise the magic they had created! In one year they were operating on more than 5,000 patients and seeing more than 50,000 patients! People were hailing them as the “Sankara Nethralaya of the East”!

Disha had finally arrived and was here to stay…. and grow!

 In 1998, Dr. Tushar Sinha (another friend from NRS Medical College) who had a job in the Railways, joined Disha after completing his Vitreo- Retinal Fellowship from Sankara Nethralaya. Together with Dr. Sunil Parekh (a VR Consultant from Sankara Nethralaya, who was practising in Mumbai) he developed the Retina Department. This was the need of the day.

Between 2000- 2002, Disha became a 4 storied building with five Operation Theatres! 7 more young and extremely talented Ophthalmologists joined Disha. They were the New Disha.

Dr. Bhaskar Bhattacharyya came first followed by Dr. Arup Bhaumick, Dr. Saurabh Sanyal, Dr. Manas Ghosh, Dr. Arnab Das, Dr.Ayan Mohanta and Dr. Subhendu Boral.

Disha inaugurated the new OPD building in June 2003, another 23,000 sq. ft. of Patient Care Area. Disha was a full fledged eye care institution with 11 consultants and all sub- specialties of Ophthalmology. Though a new institution, new technologies were and still are constantly being added on a regular basis. Disha has never raised its initial patient service charges. This has helped Disha to penetrate to the grass roots. 

Everyone could afford Disha’s modest, moderate charges. "High quality, moderate cost" became Disha’s unique propriety.

Coming Closer, Seeing Further

By 2005, Disha was seeing more than 3.5 lac patients and operating on 25,000 patients in all sub-specialties of Ophthalmology with  25 Consultants.

In September 2006, Disha started its second hospital in Sheoraphuly, Hooghly across the Ganges. This hospital was set up by Dr. Saurabh Sanyal. He and Dr. Hazra now look after this hospital. From Day One, Disha Hooghly Hospital never looked back. In 3 years Disha Hooghly sees more than 1.3 lakh patients and performs more than 10,000 operations in all subspecialties with 12 full time Consultants.

Disha Barrackpore came up with another good idea in the form of the Disha Cataract & Refractive Surgi- Centre. This is a sprawling 40,000 sq. ft. infrastructure which caters to patients who are looking forward to newer refractive solutions and a better patient experience. This centre also has a private Privilege Clinic where patients can have a detailed ophthalmological consultation in a more relaxed environment with more time to discuss everything with their Consultant.

In 2010-11, Disha has seen more than 2,65,000 patients and performed more than 43,500 operations!

Expansion thy name is Disha!

"Disha noy dur, Disha Durgapur"! The latest member of the Disha Family is just about to be inaugurated!

Starting from small town practice, Disha today has evolved like a fairy tale to the largest state of the art Eye Hospital of the East. In the future, Disha looks forward to have similar hospitals in Baguihati, Baranagar and Howrah so that people have to travel less to avail of the now- renowned Disha services for a fraction of the cost charged at other eye hospitals.

Behind all this, lies Disha’s direction to provide state of the art health care to everybody, while respecting their ability to pay.