LEAD BY EXAMPLE

FROM SURGEON TO HEALTHCARE LEADER, HANAFIAH HARUNARASHID SAYS HIS DAYS IN THE OPERATING THEATRE PREPARED HIM WELL FOR HIS ROLE AS MANAGING DIRECTOR AT HOSPITAL CANSELOR TUANKU MUHRIZ. THROUGH DISCIPLINE, HUMBLENESS AND METICULOUSNESS, HE HOPES TO PUT MALAYSIA’S HEALTHCARE SECTOR ONTO THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE.

- ANASTASIA PRIKHODKO

At first glance, vascular surgery and leading a hospital of 5,000 staff with a budget of RM400 million (US$96 million) don’t appear to have much in common. But for Hanafiah Harunarashid, his time as a surgeon has prepared him for his role as Managing Director of Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM), UKM Medical Centre.“Surgeons have to be meticulous. They have to plan things properly, take responsibility and make hard decisions,” he says. “For example, if a patient has a dead leg, you have to do an amputation to save them. Similarly, in management, sometimes you have to make a difficult decision, which might be an unpopular decision, to get results.”

Furthermore, a surgeon needs to be able to work with the anaesthetist. They need to pay attention to detail, need proper equipment and be able to work in a team environment. “There is a hierarchy of working,” Hanafiah explains.

“You cannot have everybody trying to operate at the same time. You have a team leader, whom everybody has to follow, and a small mistake can lead to big disasters. That does not mean that other team members have no say at all. Good communication is the key,” he says. “If you use that same principle, management is the same thing. I need a good team. I need everybody to understand what they are doing. You need to make difficult decisions, plan properly and, if you fail, things can go wrong.”

The hospital sees about 800,000 patients a year and does more than 20,000 operations. Hanafiah’s vision is to not only ensure Malaysia’s health care competes on the international stage but also to make sure that HCTM becomes the preferred hospital in the country so that whenever people are considering where to get treatment, HCTM is the first place that comes to mind.