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Renting a few floors in a multi-storied building and starting a business under the guise of a private hospital is a common scam. But a certain hospital began its journey on Zakir Hossain Road in the Khulshi neighbourhood of Chittagong city in 1987, to effectively serve the patients.
The entrepreneur behind that institution – Holy Crescent Hospital – was Dr Osmond Quiah. After he moved to the US in 1996, the hospital began to incur losses and eventually shut down.
Dr Osmond, along with freedom fighter Dr Shah Alam Bir Uttam, was also the key entrepreneur of the first private hospital established in Chittagong – Medical Centre. This hospital, situated on the city’s OR Nizam road, still survives to this day, and has been expanded.
During his recent visit to Chattogram, Dr Osmond shared his and Holy Crescent Hospital’s story with The Business Post.
Dr Osmond’s family acted as an inspiration for him. His mother, Teresa N Quiah, was a direct student of Nobel Laureate Mother Teresa. She graduated from Lady Brabourne College, Kolkata and used to teach at St Mary’s School in Chittagong.
While his father, James Quiah, was a pharmaceutical executive.
After completing his secondary and higher secondary education from Notre Dame College and Chittagong Government College, Dr Osmond studied at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).
In 1979, he started his medical career at CMCH and continued till 1984. Later, he became an entrepreneur and built two private hospitals, before moving to the US for good. Dr Osmond is now a faculty member at the New York University School of Medicine.
He is employed as a physician specialist in ambulatory addiction medicine at New York University affiliate Woodhull Hospital and New York City Health and Hospital Corporation at Kings County Hospital.
While speaking about construction of Holy Crescent Hospital, Dr Osmond said, “In 1987, I did not have a single penny in my pocket, but dreamt of building a hospital worth Tk 10 crores.
Three of us – I, Dr Ainul Haque, and Dr Abdullah Al Haroon, now a New Zealand expatriate – started working on the project.
“We contacted the elder son of the former governor of East Pakistan Zakir Husain and asked to give us 40 Gandas of land (1 Ganda = 864 Sqft), promising to pay later. He also wanted to see something good happening in Chattogram and gave us the land.”
“There, I thought we needed a big investor, and went to Engineer Mosharraf Hossain (former minister and currently Awami League presidium member and lawmaker). After hearing everything, he also agreed and included some others,” said Dr Osmond.
“Later, when I contacted PHP Chairman Sufi Mohammad Mizanur Rahman for investing, he simply asked how much money I needed. We managed the capital this way and built the Holy Crescent Hospital,” he added.
Dr Osmond added, “All lab tests at the hospital were in line with the Combined Military Hospital in Chittagong Cantonment. Combined Military Hospital doctors were also brought in to see patients regularly. The first ICU and dialysis machine were installed there before the CMCH.
“After the hospital’s launch, the then President Hussain Muhammad Ershad appeared there one day without informing anyone, and was impressed by the facility. The four-storey hospital was designed by a German architect.”
“At that time, the power supply was very poor and the elevator could not run properly. So a ram was built. The German designer said the ram was designed to lift patients up manually without power. Foreign diplomats working in Chattogram also took treatment here,” he added.
When asked why the hospital closed almost two decades ago after so much work, Dr Osmond said, “When I was preparing to leave for the US, Sufi Mohammad Mizanur Rahman said with my farewell comes the end of Holy Crescent Hospital.
“I was shocked and asked him why he said that. In reply he said that it cannot operate without honest and sincere people.”
“Later, Hedayet of Karnaphuli bought it and tried to run it with retired army officers. One day an officer asked me to come back. I politely declined his offer, because by then I had a position in the US and my children’s safety was important to me.”
At present, Dr Osmond resides in New York with his wife and a family of four daughters, a son and nine grandchildren.
