Mangalore: Fr Stany Tauro to Relinquish Office after 10 years at Fr Muller
by Florine Roche
Pic: Dayananda Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Jul 22: “Experience has convinced me that there is a thousand times more goodness, wisdom, and love in the world than men imagine” said Gehles. This quote comes to my mind when I talk to Fr Stany Tauro about his experiences. Fr Tauro is relinquishing his position as the Administrator of Father Muller Medical College Hospital this Saturday (July 24, 2010) after serving in this capacity for almost 3 years. He will take over charge as the Parish Priest of Shirva church. Having served Fr Muller institutions in various capacities for almost 17 years, Fr Stany Tauro carries with him a bundle of experience from this institution for which he has great respect and regards. He is a man of team spirit who believes in the collective responsibility and gives credit where it is due.
This is evident from the fact that he refuses to take personal credit for any achievements during his stint as Administrator of Fr Muller Hospital. “I have great regard and respect for this institution because it has wiped the tears of thousands of sick people who have come to this institution with tremendous faith and hope. Apart from providing quality health care this institution has been imparting quality education to the younger generation keeping in tune with the institution’s motto of ‘heal and comfort’, is what he has to say about his experience as Administrator of the hospital.
Fr Tauro had joined Fr Muller in 1983 as an Assistant Director of the institutions and served there for 7 years. After a decade of serving elsewhere he was once again brought to Fr Muller in 2000 with greater responsibilities and served as the Administrator of Fr Muller Homoeopathic Medical College and Fr Muller Homoeopathic Pharmacy Division for almost 8 years. In 2008 he took over charge as the Administrator of Fr Muller Medical College and continues in that capacity until he relinquishes charge on July 25, 2010. Fr Tauro hails from Kalathur in Udupi district and has served as Assistant Parish priest at Barkur, Urwa and Milagres and as Parish Priest in Manipal, Kinnigoli and Rosario Cathedral. His next posting as Parish priest of Shirva is like a home coming to him though he says he is ready to serve willingly anywhere irrespective of the place of posting.
62-year-old Fr Tauro is soft spoken and is definitely sober looking for an Administrator. He has carried on the challenging task of managing a reputed and enormous hospital like Fr Muller with aplomb. The general feeling of an administrator as a hard task master withers away in the course of spending some time with him. He says the most challenging part of his job was focusing on patient care. “Success is great when team spirit is high. Otherwise we cannot deliver any results effectively” he asserts. He further adds that “our institution is fortunate to have a dedicated team of doctors, nurses and other supportive staff who play an equally significant role in providing quality health care to the patients. The institution has focused on providing modern equipments and state of the art infrastructure to the hospital. It is a continuous process and I have only contributed to it very actively”.
With his rich and veritable experience he has one sanguine advice to the public as he says that people when sick should not go by the reputation of the hospital or doctors. They should find out for themselves as to which hospital is able to provide quality health care, whether they have a good team of qualified and efficient doctors and also about the management of the hospital. He stresses on the importance of management because he says “if there is good management there will be good care given to the people and there will be a systematic pattern of administration”.
Joe Gonsalves who served as a Board member of Fr Muller recalls his association with Fr Tauro. He says “I have known Fr Tauro for nearly 30 years ever since he came to Fr Muller institution in the early 80’s. He was young, energetic and made his presence felt through his commitment and hard work. He is a man of team work who shares responsibilities and accolades in equal measure”. In fact hard work has been the touchstone of the Fr Tauro’s career and he attributes whatever little he has been able to achieve to the hard work he has done. In retrospection, what gives him utmost satisfaction? “The fact that I have worked hard and not escaped from my responsibilities is what makes me happy and contented”, he says without batting an eyelid.
As an able administrator Fr Tauro kept his eyes and ears open to be aware of what was happening around him and this enabled him to grasp the essential prerequisites of managing the hospital effectively. As an administrator his job was to give directions and ensure that these directions were realistic and he did just that. He says a good administrator should have foresight and vision and he should not be an idealistic. Clear thinking is a must to fulfill the set goals.
He agrees that his was a 24-hour job that called for his availability any time and he had to be ready for any intervention whenever called for. There were also lot of sacrifices to be made, though he hesitates to admit it. “We should be ready to solve any crisis whenever the situation demands and as an administrator one has to be very humane and courteous in dealing with the patients. Because when people are sick they suffer and it is the humane approach that matters in the healing process” he avers.
However, he has learnt quite a few things during his service at the Hospital. He feels that people in general are ignorant and still need to know more about hospitals, quality health care and diseases. His experience has taught him that hospital is the place to see the reality of life and the sufferings of people irrespective of their financial status. He has also learnt that just a day’s illness is enough to bring a mighty man down to his knees.
While relinquishing the office Fr Tauro looks back with satisfaction of having done something to provide that healing touch to the sick and the needy. Generally the dedicated work done by the doctors, nurses, ward boys and other staff in a hospital is not visible to the patients or known to the outside world. He says that Fr Muller Hospital caters to the poorer sections of the people without any bias. Satisfaction is writ large on his face when he says it has been a great experience providing health care and also catering to the financial needs of the poor sections of patients. He is happy to note that Fr Muller Hospital has introduced health card facility to help the poor and lower middle class people also. Last year the hospital crossed 35,000 health card memberships, which mirrors the popularity and reputation of Fr Muller Hospital. The health card facility has been very beneficial to the common people as they very often lack the confidence to come to the portals of the hospital even in grave situations.
Fr Tauro is certainly a rich man in terms of the experience he has gained in the course of dealing with all sorts of people - from Corporate houses, professionals, to common and poor patients. The rich experience he has gained at the hospital combined with his fondness for hard work is sure to keep him in good stead in his future endeavors.
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