USA, April 1: Dr Kushala K Hegde, a well-known cardiologist and former chief of staff at St Charles Mercy Hospital, died on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 in St Charles from complications of primary pulmonary hypertension. He was 66.

When friends and colleagues spoke of Dr Hegde, they said they felt they were part of his extended family because of his kindness and generosity.

His daughter, Kiran Rai, said Dr Hegde treated everyone the same, from upper management at St. Charles Mercy to the housekeeping crew.

"I learned how he valued people," Rai said.
 
"He treated every person with respect. I learned from him if a job was worth doing, it was worth doing well. I walked into St. Charles and I couldn't make it to the elevator without everyone telling me how wonderful he was."

Dr Hegde was born in 1940 in India, and family members said he gravitated toward education. He completed his premedicine education in 1958 at St. Aloysius College in Mangalore, India, and received a degree from the Mysore Medical College in 1964.

After interning at Memorial Medical Center in Niagara Falls, NY, he served his internal medicine residency at the then-Medical College of Ohio at Toledo.

"He was very generous with his time and possessions," said Dr S Amjad Hussain, who worked with Dr. Hegde during those early days. "He was determined to help other people. He would go that extra mile."

Dr Hussain said Dr Hegde made a name for himself at St Charles, helping establish the cardiology department there. The hospital's heart center was named for Dr. Hegde in 2003.

After a fellowship at Brown University and Children's Hospital in Halifax, N.S., he returned St. Charles in 1972.

"He was a close friend and my personal doctor," said Dr. Ajit Pai, a physician at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center and St. Charles Mercy. "He loved his patients, his family, and his friends. He was one of the first Indian doctors in Toledo. He really enjoyed the area and living here."

Dr Wilson Felix, who works at St Charles Mercy, studied under Dr. Hegde during his residency.

"He was my mentor," Dr Felix said. "He would take the extra time to see about you. He really cared for us. We felt we were all a part of his family. He was always concerned about us."

Before retiring in 2003 because of illness, he served on numerous medical boards and was a founding member of the Hindu Temple of Toledo.

Mrs. Rai said her father touched many lives inside and outside the hospital because of his concern for others and tireless dedication to his profession.

"He was always there for us," Kiran Rai said. "For him, everyone had value."

Surviving are his wife Kusum; daughters Kiran Rai and Krupa Shetty, son Dr Krathik Hegde; brothers Srinivas and Ravi Hegde; sister Vanaja Shetty, and two grandchildren.

The body will be in Walker Funeral Home, 5155 Sylvania Ave., from 3 to 6 pm on Friday and from 2:30 to 5:30 pm on April 1. There will be no services.

The family suggests tributes to the St Charles Mercy Hospital Family Fund or the Hindu Temple of Toledo in Sylvania.