CEO Insights Magazine

It Is True That Leadership Has Been Challenged A Big Time Today And Throughout History. And Today, Coping With The Unprecedented Changes Brought About By The Penetration Of Technology And Innovation Across Industries Is Quite Overwhelming For Many Industry Leaders, But As It’s Well-Known Leaders Never Fear, They Moreover Test The Challenge. Murgessan Pillay (Morgan), CEO Of Oceania Hospitals-The Largest Private Hospital In Fiji And One Of The Largest In The South Pacific Region, Truly Emphasizes This. Oceania Is A Healthcare Organization That’s Committed To Providing The Highest Standard Of Clinical Expertise And Nursing Care. It Caters To A Wide Range Of Healthcare Needs From Day Surgery Procedures To Highly Complex Surgical Procedures.

Murgessan Pillay Is A Chartered Accountant Member Of The Fiji Institute Of Accountants And CPA Australia, A Member Of The Australian Institute Of Company Directors (MAICD), And A Senior Associate Of The Financial Services Institute Of Australasia (FINSIA). His 37+ Years Of Professional Career Have Been Exemplary For Many. Let’s Get To Know About It Through The Snippets Of An Exclusive Interview Of Murgessan Pillay With CEO Insights ASIA Magazine.

Could You Give A Brief Account Of Your Professional Background And Experiences? What Is The Motivation That Fuels Your Daily Routines?

On The Educational Front, I Am A Bachelor Of Commerce Graduate From The University Of Southern Queensland, (Toowoomba, Australia) With A Specialization In Professional Accounting & End-User Computing. I Also Hold A Post-Graduate Diploma In Applied Finance From Kaplan Institute, Australia (FINSIA Affiliated), Including A Senior Associateship Of FINSIA And A Diploma On Communication In Business & Management From Cambridge Tutorial College (New Jersey, UK).

Professionally, my experience has been pretty dynamic across the finance and accounts domain holding senior leadership and C-suite roles. In my 37+ years of professional career, I have transmuted from a Bank Officer (Labasa Branch) position to Audit Officer - Internal Audit Department, Attachment – Loans Department, Senior Resource Officer - Finance, Planning & Treasury Department, Senior Special Projects Officer in Asset Management Division, and Actg. Assistant Manager Administration - Asset Management Division at National Bank of Fiji (1986-1996); and then Divisional Accountant at Carpenters Finance Division (1996-1998); followed by Management Accountant at Carpenters Group - Morris Hedstrom Fiji (1998-1999); Financial Controller/Company Secretary/Morris Hedstrom Samoa (on secondment from Carpenters Fiji) (1999-2002); Manager Revenue Accounting at Fiji Airways (formerly Air Pacific) (2003-2005); Financial Controller at BSP (formerly Banking & Funds Management/Colonial Fiji) (2005-2009); Financial Controller – Insurance and Deputy Chief Financial Officer at BSP Life (Fiji) (2009-2013); Chief Financial Officer & Company Secretary at Williams & Gosling (2013-2020); and lastly Chief Financial Officer (2020- 2021) to now, Chief Executive Officer (2021-till date). I have also served as a Director of several companies in the past. The motivation that fuels my daily routine is the desire to make a positive difference to those around me, including the organization that I serve.

You possess over thirty-seven years of experience. How has your path to success been and what is your success mantra?

According to me, there is no substitute for hard work. Always listen to and learn from the wisdom of others. I have always had an opportunity to undertake many roles outside of my key substantive role. This has always motivated me. I have had an unusual career path spanning varied industries and I also believe the key to my success has been my knowledge of processes (Process Improvement Management), in particular. So, the success mantra for me is just hard work.

How are you leveraging health information technologies in healthcare decisionmaking and investigations? What are the latest tools the hospital has deployed in terms of both investigations and treatment?

For a private hospital of our size, we may be seen as a small player in an international setting but we do carry significant responsibilities and have to punch above our weight in a small country like Fiji and indeed in the South Pacific region. We always have limitations in terms of accessing specialist resources in-house. Digital technology or digitalization of our services is critical in bridging some of these gaps. The hospital is currently embarking on the implementation of an integrated Hospital Information System (HIS). This will further facilitate Tele-Medicine services and tele-reporting of diagnostics. We have invested in the latest stateof-the-art diagnostic infrastructure. These range from digital X-Rays, digital mammograms, 3D/4D Ultrasound machines, 256-slice CT scans, Cath Lab facilities (Angiography/PCI), high-end Analysers, and the latest gen MRI.

"To Get People To Embrace Change, Leaders (Company) Must Convince Them That Change Is Necessary, & Is Good For Them, As Well As The Company"

What are the latest challenges hindering people from making the right lifestyle choices? Also, what are the solutions towards helping people make the right choices?

There are too many distractions and/or temptations towards unhealthy choices in terms of food, physical activity (a lack of it), and mental stress. Most people are readily attracted to them. There is a tendency to seek medical intervention when a problem has already manifested itself. And that also, after it has reached a severe stage. As much as we are adequately prepared to provide treatment for those ailments, the right choice for people would be to embrace preventive medicine practices. In this respect, we heavily promote and encourage early diagnosis and dietary and lifestyle advisory through trained clinicians.

Could you reflect on some of the toughest challenges you have encountered in your journey so far? How did you overcome them and what did you learn from them?

As I have been deeply involved with ‘change management’ for quite a long period now, there have been many challenges along the way. The toughest one is to rally the team, our people, to embrace change. If people do not embrace change, no matter how good the infrastructure you invest in, achieving success would be difficult. To get people to embrace change, leaders (company) must convince them that change is necessary, and is good for them, as well as the company. They must also be provided with reassurance that the company will provide them necessary support during the change process even through difficulties and failures. Moreover, in a country like ours, with a limited skills market, we cannot take shortcuts and implement drastic rightsizing measures.

In light of your strong experience within the industry, what advice would you give to the upcoming healthcare industry leaders?

In terms of leadership in general, 'Good Leadership is about not doing what should not be done as much as being able to do what should be done'. It is very easy to end up doing what should not be done. Despite the fact we are in a ‘private’ healthcare industry, we cannot be singularly driven by business imperatives only. Quality of service is non-negotiable as it is at the heart of any relationship with the customer/patient. It is at the heart of a patient’s sense of ‘value for money’. And of course, having a good team around you is also very important.

Murgessan Pillay (Morgan), CEO, Oceania Hospitals

A qualified banker and chartered accountant by profession, Murgessan Pillay possess over 37 years of corporate experience, more than 25 of which is at the executive level, dominated by Accounting & Banking Services and spanning across Aviation, Retailing as well as Freight & Logistics and now the Healthcare Industry. Process and Change Management are his special areas of interest and expertise. He has served as a director of several companies in the past. Currently, he is leading Oceania Hospitals as the CEO