Drs. Kiran C. & Pallavi Patel: The Doctor Couple With A Helping Hand

By siliconindia | Wednesday, 18 December 2019, 06:50 Hrs

Tampa-based cardiologist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Dr. Kiran C. Patel and his wife, Dr. Pallavi Patel, have dedicated their lives to charity and working to provide a better life to thousands of people mainly in Zambia, India, and United States.

FREMONT, CA: "Once I climb a peak, I don't sit there to enjoy, I set my eyes on the next peak." These are the words of a 69-year-old entrepreneur, cardiologist, and philanthropist Dr. Kiran C. Patel. Born in Zambia, he was educated in Zambia under the British Educational System, and then he completed his diplomas from Cambridge University and The University of London.

A growth that made a visionary

Dr. Kiran Patel grew up in apartheid Africa, so he fits into neither the white nor black worlds. When he was 12, he was barred from the high school for whites. He attended the country's only high school for Indians, which was 120 miles away from his home. After suffering discrimination, he says, "you always had to be better than your peers to succeed." He attended medical school in India before going to Columbia University, New York. He pursued his specialization in cardiology from Gujarat University.

Dr. Pallavi Patel, the wife of Kiran, was born in India, and they first met while studying medicine in Ahmedabad, India. After completion of their degree, they got married and started a medical practice in Zambia. There, they practiced medicine for five years before arriving in the United States on Thanksgiving Day, 1976. Both of them received their advanced specializations in New York at Columbia University: Kiran in cardiology and Pallavi in pediatrics. In the early 1980s, Patel's moved to Tampa Bay and set up practice. He started a physician practice management company diverging into 14 practices, including Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Cardiology.

Dr. Kiran was partnering with many point-of-service locations to form a multi-specialty network. He worked with over 95 hospitals and a few hundred physicians in settling past-due medical claims.

Dr. Kiran Patel provided an additional $15 million in equity through Conversion of Brow and infused $10 million of new capital and acquired 55 percent of the publicly held Well Care Management Group.

Currently, Dr. Patel is serving as Chairman of Visionary Medical Systems. He thinks that the Visionary Office will decrease the paperwork for doctors and give them more time to devote to their patients. He is a member of some organizations, including the American College of Physicians, Fellow of American College of Cardiology, American Medical Association, American Association of Physicians from South East Asia, Past Chair Scholarship Committee.

Making a Difference

"If anybody can do it, I can do it better and cheaper."

The family foundation of Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel Family Foundation support projects related to education, health, and the arts around three continents. The impact of their extraordinary generosity is seen across the globe, particularly in Florida, India, and Africa. While actively initiating projects, the Drs. Patel also responds in times of need.

A major earthquake devastated several villages in Gujarat, India, in 2001. This natural calamity killed thousands, collapsed buildings and homes, and leaving masses of disabled people and orphaned children. Dr. Kiran united the Tampa Bay community and AAPI, and led an effort that eventually rehabilitated the villagers' homes, constructed a new school and an orphanage, and four modern hospitals.

As the couple was opening the earthquake relief hospitals in India, a devastating tsunami struck Asia. To deal with that situation, they organized fundraising efforts and secondary relief plans to build schools and clinics along India's devastated eastern shore. This effort is on-going thanks to a generous response from the Tampa Bay community matched by the Patels' own money.

In 2003, the Patels turned their attention to the family's many philanthropic endeavors. Then he became chairman of a professional organization representing over 40,000 physicians, the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI). He started to tackle several humanitarian projects in India for poor and rural citizens.

In Sake of Betterment of This Planet

Dr. Patel has supported several groups through charitable donations; here is a list of his charity works:

• Allopathic medicine received $25 Million in support of its college.

• His family donated $171,500 to build homes for poor people to Habitat for Humanity.

• U.S educational institution received $225 million donations from the couple.

• Contributed $12 Million to USF College of Global Sustainability.

• He has given more than $240 million for Florida, USA development.

• His foundation committed $200 Million to Nova Southeastern University.

• Gifted $12 Million to South Florida University for new development.

• In India, they have built a modern 50-bed charity hospital

• After a devastating earthquake, they rebuild four hospitals, four schools, and a small village in Gujarat, India.

• In the last five years, they have offered more than 70 scholarships to underprivileged Tampa youth and endowed medical scholarships as well.

• They have also established at USF, a K-5 charter school, a pediatric care center. Have launched a program to provide HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and education throughout India.

There are several institutes owned by Dr. Kiran, like Kiran C. Patel High School, Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O), Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel Allied Health Building, Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine (M.D), and Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions.

Awards and Honor

Dr. Patel has received multiple awards and honor:

• The Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Southwest United States

• The Jefferson Award for Public Service-National Media Award

• Community Leader Award-Community Development Corporation Of Tampa

• The Lions Clubs International Academy Award for Humanitarian Service 2006

• The Ike Tribble Award- National Urban League- Martin Luther King Celebration

• He was honored with the "Glory of Gujarat" award from the governor of Gujarat, India

• In 2007, he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for Exceptional Immigrant Patriots

• The Indian government awarded Dr. Patel with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman for his charity history in 2019

Further ahead in the future, the Indian-American doctor couple is planning to open a medical college hospital in collaboration with the Nova Southeastern University (NSU) in Gujarat to bring premier medical education in India. Dr. Patel believes that "God put each of us in this world for some reason; each person will figure that reason out for himself. But everyone must try to make the world a better place."