SPECIAL ISSUE

Dr. Ahuja – a committed activist with a kind heart

Dr. Satya P. Ahuja.

By J.V. Lakshmana Rao

Chicago: Among the early physicians, who emigrated from India and made a mark in the US, the name of Dr. Satya P. Ahuja, figures prominently.
Dr. Ahuja, who is a specialist in nephrology, is the medical director of South Shore Hospital in Chicago.
A highly qualified physician, Dr. Ahuja is a man of kind heart with simple and down-to-earth disposition. He has built a strong bridge between organizations of medical profession and the Indian American community. He guides the young medical students from India and other countries, who come to the US for their higher studies, and in their career matters. He has guided many of them in their residency and internship choices.
Dr. Ahuja is an active member and held many important positions in American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, American College of Physicians, American Society of Nephrology, International Society of Nephrologists, Chicago Medical Society, Illinois State Medical Society, Illinois Kidney Foundation, National Kidney Foundation of Illinois and India Medical Association.
His contribution to the medical profession and the community in the US and India, is noteworthy. As president of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin in 1999, and president of India Medical Association in 1993, he has established special relationship of these two institutions with India in helping the rural people. He specially made efforts to open AAPI charitable clinics in India. He has been instrumental in sending medicines and equipment to Indian hospitals. He worked for establishing centers of excellence in India and providing them with cutting-edge technology. During his time a few charitable cancer centers were supported with diagnostic and therapeutic equipment. He also implemented an exchange fellowship program in the field of radiation oncology.
Under his leadership, AAPI has been very active in achieving many of its goals. One of the accomplishments is the availability through the AMA’s AMAP program of a centralized credentialing service for use by AAPI members. Another achievement is the approval of an AAPI resolution supporting parity in state licensing requirements between International Medical Graduates (IMG) and American Medical graduates (AMG). Dr. Ahuja had also worked hard to increase the membership of AAPI. During his presidency, AAPI introduced a bill in the US Congress known as the “Managed Care Patient Rights Act” and strongly supported the “Patients Bill of Rights (PBR). These bills were passed by Congress.
During his presidency, AAPI supported President Bill Clinton’s Medicare plan, which was more competitive and efficient. In a letter to Clinton, Dr. Ahuja said: “Your proposal will modernize and reform Medicare’s benefits and will make an unprecedented long-term financing commitment to the program that would extend until 2027.” Dr. Ahuja said that the Indian physicians, in their role as patient advocates, were particularly pleased at Clinton’s decision to include a prescription drug benefit that was affordable and available to all beneficiaries.
Dr. Ahuja keeps a constant touch with medical schools and hospitals in India. Heads of some of the new hospitals that have come up in India are from the US. They all communicate frequently with Dr. Ahuja in matters of professional information. Dr. Ahuja also helps with information about Indian hospitals when some Indian Americans ask for, to help their relatives in India.
Dr. Ahuja has been guiding the Indian American community in matters of medical information and treatment. He is politically active and interacts with Congressmen and Senators. He often visits Washington, DC, or receives top leaders in Chicago.
Dr. Ahuja was born in Lahore on January 26, 1945. He had his pre-med education from Nagpur University. He did his medical schooling in Nagpur and internship in University of Western Ontario Victoria Hospital in London, Ontario, Canada. ­­He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. He did his fellowship in Nephrology at Cook County Hospital in Chicago; and University of Chicago Hospitals.
He started his private practice in 1976 and also worked with several other organizations, including Little Company of Mary Hospital, Roseland Commu-nity Hospital, South Suburban Hospital, Trinity Hospital, St. Margaret Mercy Hospital, the Community Hospital of Indiana, and Holy Cross Hospital, before assuming his present position as Medical Director of South Shore Hospital in Chicago in 1998. He held many medical committee appointments and won several awards.
Among the awards he received were the Physician of the Year Award for six years at Grant Hospital Chicago; Hind Rattan Award in India, Service Recognition Award and Presidential Award of AAPI, and Ame-rican Medical Association Excellence in Medicine Leadership Award.

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