Advocate for access

Advocate for access

HEALTH CARE: Dr. Dev GnanaDev has been fighting for patients and doctors almost 30 years.

07:30 PM PDT on Thursday, April 2, 2009

By LORA HINES
The Press-Enterprise

Photo Gallery: Dr. Dev GnanaDev - Medical Director at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center

Dr. Dev GnanaDev has spent nearly 30 years fighting for patients' medical access and adequate payment for health care providers who treat the poor.

GnanaDev, medical director at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, has helped create medical programs designed to treat people who can't afford to pay for them. Many uninsured patients have benefited from the hospital's cardiac health management program, a heart attack and bypass surgery recovery program, which GnanaDev started after his 2001 heart attack.

As a leader of the California Medical Association, which represents an estimated 35,000 doctors statewide, GnanaDev, a Republican, has challenged the Schwarzenegger administration in its effort to reduce payments to doctors who accept Medi-Cal. Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program that covers the poor.

GnanaDev, a vascular and trauma surgeon, is well versed on almost all issues patients and doctors face. As president of the state medical association, he travels the country to help and advocate for them.

"Health comes before anything else," GnanaDev said. "If you don't have your health, you don't have anything."

Joe Dunn , the medical association's executive director, said GnanaDev's work in San Bernardino County prepared him well to represent doctors throughout the state.

"He knows how to work both sides of the (political) aisle for doctors and patients," Dunn said. "But he has a level of toughness that most people are not aware of. He will push back, but he's not a bull in a china shop."

GnanaDev's passion to help people means as much to him as the degrees and certifications that cover his office walls or his reputation for being among the major players in the U.S. health care debate.

He led an Arrowhead Regional medical team to the Houston Astrodome after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf of Mexico in 2005. At Arrowhead Regional, GnanaDev started a tattoo removal program for former gang members who qualify for it.

Political leaders across the country are aware of his activism, which has caught the attention of President Barack Obama's administration. The president has promised to improve health care access and reduce costs through technological advancements.

"He is recognized by name," Dunn said of GnanaDev. "People ask for him by name."

GnanaDev knew as a child he would become a doctor. His father wanted all of his six children to be like the doctor in his village in India, who was regarded as one of its most-respected people. GnanaDev left his home country more than 30 years ago but raises money to build schools and improve water systems there.

He was 23 and had a $100 bill in his pocket when he arrived in Newark, N.J., for his medical residency. A family friend picked up GnanaDev at the airport and dropped him off at the wrong hospital.

Once he got to the University of Medicine & Dentistry, GnanaDev said, "It really was an experience you can't believe. Suddenly, I was there in the frying pan. In 1974, they allowed the training people to run the hospital."

During his first month, he had to put a chest tube into a shooting victim who was bleeding into his lungs. A senior resident would have performed the procedure, but he couldn't get to the hospital. Police had closed the streets because of the shooting, which happened near the hospital.

"I had never done one before," GnanaDev said. "We don't have many gunshot wounds in India."

That was when he developed his love for performing emergency surgery.

"It really brings out the best in you," GnanaDev said. "Nothing else puts you on the spot."

He began shaping his interest in health care politics in the 1990s as San Bernardino County planned construction of what is now Arrowhead Regional, one of the state's busiest and most modern hospitals. Critics said construction of the 373-bed facility was unnecessary and too expensive, especially for county residents who were uninsured or poor.

San Bernardino County CEO Mark Uffer became the hospital CEO shortly after it opened. It has the second-largest trauma center statewide.

"We painted a picture of what we thought we could get this to look like," Uffer said, adding that the former San Bernardino County Hospital was so old and dilapidated that it couldn't adequately serve its patients. "If you want to be a change agent, you have to understand the political part."

GnanaDev organized supporters, raised money and fought back. Arrowhead Regional, still known as the new hospital, opened March 30, 1999.

Arrowhead Regional treats about 300,000 patients annually, thousands of whom are uninsured or covered by Medi-Cal.

"For me, there was nothing to lose," said GnanaDev, who was then the hospital's associate medical director. "Politicians have been affecting the whole business of health care. That's why you have to be politically active."

At 50, GnanaDev, who already was juggling duties as the hospital's chief of surgery and medical director, political associations and a family, went back to school to learn more about finance. He was one of the first students to enroll in Cal State San Bernardino's MBA program for working professionals and earned his degree in two years.

But, on Feb. 7, 2001, his long workdays and extensive commitments caught up with GnanaDev. He had a heart attack as he prepared to go to work. His wife, Rose, drove him to Arrowhead Regional while he told Uffer that he was on his way to the emergency department.

"We had the cavalry waiting for him," Uffer said. "It was very scary."

The experience taught GnanaDev that he needed to slow down, appreciate his life more and take better care of himself.

When he's not at the hospital or working on his political causes, GnanaDev and his family visit national parks. He has been to all of the ones west of the Mississippi River. His favorite musical performers are Bruce Springsteen and U2. He admires U2's lead singer, Bono, because of his political activism and philanthropy.

"You look at yourself as if you have a second chance," GnanaDev said. "It's human nature to think I can do whatever I want."

Reach Lora Hines at 951-368-9444 or lhines@PE.com

Dr. Dev GnanaDev

Age: 58

Residence: Upland

Family: Wife; Rose; three children: Monica, Yamuna and Raja

Details: Local, state and national advocate for improved health care access and payment to doctors who treat the poor. In 2008, he became president of the California Medical Association, which represents about 35,000 doctors statewide.

Professional: Medical director and surgery department chairman at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton.

PODCAST Available http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_prodev03.38a66f8.html

Photo: Dr. Dev GnanaDev, chief of surgery of Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, left; Jason Tomsic, doctor of osteopathy, and technician Ramiro Palomera perform surgery to tie an artery to a vein in preparation for dialysis on a woman.