Hari Garg followed in his father's footsteps when it came to pursuing a career in medicine and the way it was delivered to patients - the only difference was he did it several thousand miles from his native India. "My father was a family physician and after watching him care for families I became interested in medicine," Hari Garg said. "We lived in a very rural area and he practiced in a small clinic and also made house calls." While Garg never practiced in his native India, he did get his medical schooling in New Delhi and that is where he met the woman who would later become his wife, Sarla. Even though they were both attending the same medical school, they didn't meet until graduation. Sarla was training to become an obstetrician/gynecologist; Hari, an internist, received specialized training in diseases affecting the kidneys. Following graduation and marriage the couple moved to England to complete their post graduate training. In 1970 they came to the United States. They became citizens in 1976. They both completed training at Rochester General Hospital. Sarla began her ob/gyn residency at Rochester General, Hari's training was completed under a fellowship at the hospital - a fellowship follows a residency period. When asked how they made the trek from India, to England, then Rochester and finally Brockport, the couple said they were drawn to Lakeside Hospital's rural atmosphere. "We also were invited by the administrators at Brockport to practice there," Hari said. Sarla did a portion of her residency with Planned Parenthood and many of the volunteers with whom she worked urged her to consider Lakeside as a home for her practice. "Once one of the senior doctors retired, there was room there for both of us," Hari said. It was July 1973 when the doctors started what would be a 33-year career with Lakeside. "It was a different time when we started," Hari said. "In spite of our specialized training, we were family oriented doctors and Lakeside is a family oriented facility. I never felt I was just in Brockport - I was helping patients in Monroe County." In 1975, when Park Ridge Hospital opened in Greece, Hari was a full attending physician in the dialysis unit, he also maintained an affiliation with Rochester General. Sarla initially remained an associate with Rochester General but, as demand for her services grew at Lakeside, she eased out. Because of SUNY Brockport and the small town atmosphere, the Gargs said there was always something interesting going on in the community but they said it was nice to be known in the community. "When we are in the grocery store, people stop us and say hello," he said. "We always felt like our services were appreciated. It reminded me of the way my father was treated in India." Kevin Nacy, Lakeside CEO, said, demand was great for Dr. Garg's obstetrics services. "Sarla presided over more than 150 births a year, on average," he said. "She delivered the number of babies during her career that is the equivalent to the number of students in the Brockport Central School District." Hari recalled when he started with Lakeside and up until 1980, the hospital had a much smaller emergency department and he was part of the staff rotation to man that department. "Now the ED has a staff of full time trained physicians but when we started I was on call when patients came in. Because of Lakeside's smaller size, we were able to participate more fully in a well rounded care of the patient in addition to our specialty - partly because of my rounds in the ED." The Gargs agreed it was a hard decision to step back from the day-to-day practice of medicine but said they always had a timetable in their minds as to when they would retire. "We always thought that age 65 was a good age to retire and we had plans for our retirement," they said. Sarla's only regret was, "that I didn't get to see (Lakeside's) OB wing renovation completed before I left. It is going to be state of the art." Before they left the hospital, the Gargs made sure their practices, and their patients, were smoothly transitioned. In Hari's practice, his nephew, Punkaj, became his associate several years ago and the two completed a six year transition period prior to Hari's leaving the practice. For Sarla, the hospital became a partner in the practice and brought in a new physician to ease the transition. "We wanted to make sure everything was smoothly coordinated for our patients and for the hospital," they said. "We're really going to miss our patients but we have twin grandchildren and we want to spend a lot of time with them," the couple said. "When they came we were elated and knew they would give us something to do after we retired." When not spending time with their grandchildren, entertaining or relaxing with a good book, the Gargs are back in the classroom pursuing masters of public health degrees at the University of Rochester. They have both completed their first semester and said they earned good grades. "Our practices satisfied our need to care for patients on a smaller scale now the challenge is in public health, it's been a passion of ours," Hari said. "We can utilize our new knowledge of public health with our medical expertise and help a broader range of communities. We're looking to volunteer in areas in developing countries and help them learn better nutrition or understand the benefits of immunizations." "These were two good physicians who will be sorely missed by Lakeside," Kevin Nacy said. "They were high quality physicians who constantly pushed us to improve." June 11, 2006 |
