A healthcare entrepreneur, physician, and philanthropist, Azad Moopen is also the chairman and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare, a healthcare conglomerate.
Aster DM Healthcare was started by Azad Moopen, in the Middle East and India which was founded in 1987.
In 2010 and 2011, he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman and Padma Shri by the Government of India.
Early life
Born in Kalpakancheri in Malappuram district, Kerala in 1953, his father, Ahmed Unni Moopen was a freedom fighter and philanthropist who had helped build the local hospital, school and post office.
Azad Moopen was the youngest of his five siblings, Moopen was barely 15 when his father passed away. Azad Moopen passed the MBBS with a gold medal and an MD in general medicine from the Calicut Medical College, Kerala, and a diploma in chest disease from Delhi University.
Career
After completing his medical degree, he started at the Calicut Medical College in 1982, where he served as a Medical Lecturer for five years. He moved to Dubai in 1987, where he started his own clinic. In over 34 years Aster DM Healthcare has grown into a global healthcare conglomerate
Journey of Aster DM Healthcare
Aster DM Healthcare has become a global healthcare conglomerate, with over 377 facilities spread across eight countries. It provides direct employment to more than 20,500 people which includes approximately 2,998 doctors and the numbers are still growing.
In February 2018, Aster DM Healthcare announced its initial Public Offer IPO and had fixed a price of Rs 180 to Rs 190 for the public offer.
Azad Moopen is also involved in the development of healthcare facilities in India. He helped set up the 600-bed tertiary care Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS) hospital at Kozhikode in Kerala in 2001, which was the first multi-speciality hospital in India to receive National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers accreditation in 2007.
He has also established rural health centre MIMS Charitable Trust, near Kozhikode and adopted 7,000 BPL members for comprehensive free out-patient and in-patient care.
Under his vision, numerous social initiatives have taken place through Aster DM Foundation and Dr Moopen Family Foundation. He has earmarked 20% of his personal wealth for philanthropic activities enabling social change and helping people in need.
“We firmly believe that focussing on outstanding clinical outcomes and curating the right environment for healing are the key factors required for patient-centric healing. It will be these two factors that power exponential growth,” he said.
