Roana Costa highlights her role in the Alcon Victor Group and juggling myriad responsibilities in her everyday life.
Roana Costa is the Executive Director of Victor Hospitals and Medical Services Pvt Ltd. She was born and brought up in Goa; and graduated from Padre Conceicao College of Engineering, Verna with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Roana realised that she would like to try out her hand at something different and pursued her interest in journalism and began working for local media houses like Goa 365 and The Navhind Times. She enjoyed her work as a journalist but wanted a formal education to move forward in her career.
She got in the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai where she completed her post-graduation. She was awarded the Dean’s Prize for outstanding performance in photo-journalism, and the P Obul Reddy Award for her investigative project. At a campus placement session, Roana got a job offer at The Times of India, Head Office at VT/Boribunder Mumbai, where she worked for 3 years.
In 2011, she moved back to Goa and wanted to take her career in a new direction. Roana joined the Alcon Victor Group as a Junior Engineer and with her versatility and proficiency, was soon moved to the purchase department, as a Purchase Executive and was subsequently promoted to Assistant Corporate Material Manager.
With a yearning to further advance her career and get a 360° perspective on all aspects of the business world, Roana joined the Executive MBA program at Goa Institute of Management, Ribandar, where she studied finance and general management, while also working full time at the company. She won the silver medal for ranking second in her batch. At the Alcon Victor Group, the company recognised her aptitude for finance, and was entrusted with an assignment in the finance department and served as a Finance Executive, reporting directly to the Vice President of Finance. Through competence and dedication, Roana earned further promotions, and eventually reached the position of Assistant Finance Manager and later Finance Manager.
In 2018, Roana was given an additional assignment as Finance Manager at Victor Hospital at a time when the hospital needed a fresh lease of life. “It was a 24 hour job every single day, without a weekly holiday. I was based full time at the hospital for around 2 years till we could let it fly again. It was my sheer hard work, dynamism, and a process-oriented approach which proved instrumental in transforming the hospital’s financial health as well as the operations. The hospital has since regained its reputation, pioneering to achieve notable milestones and has in the last few years established the Victor Cancer Care Center and the Victor Memorial Ward, along with striving to obtain a National Accreditation Board for Hospitals (NABH) certification.”
Roana also conceptualises and edits the quarterly in-house health magazine known as the Health Vogue, which has become a very popular quarterly with the medical fraternity and public at large.
She is also involved in the Alcon Victor Group’s hotel division, especially the Sales and Marketing and visits and audits the hotels on a regular basis. “I have been with the company as a full time working professional since 2011, and during that period for the first 10 years, I was trained under Victor Albuquerque, our late Chairman and Managing Director who was a task master and a great mentor.” Victor Hospital completed 20 years of its inception in 2023. Roana speaks about her journey from the time she joined and her plans to make it one of the leading hospitals in Goa. “I would like to start with a brief history of how the hospital came to be. On February 1st 2004, Victor Hospital formally opened as the then Apollo Victor Hospital, Goa’s first super specialty tertiary care Hospital. It was dedicated to the people of Goa as it was the dream of our founder, Late Victor Albuquerque. At that point in time, the state lacked a good tertiary care hospital. People requiring treatment for cardiac ailments, gastrointestinal disease, nephrology, complex surgical cases, intensive care / critical care and even MRI had to travel out of Goa. The hospital has a string of firsts to its credit right from cardiovascular sciences and critical care to diagnostics. Over the last two decades, it has been a trendsetter in every sense of the word. But that was twenty years ago. Today the Hospital is re-named and re-branded as Victor Hospital. It continues to have many firsts in Goa. In the last few months, the hospital has opened the Victor Cancer Care Centre, introduced a 3D- 4K laparoscopic system which helps improve complex surgery outcomes, carried out AI Robotic knee surgery, painless laser treatment, introduced South Goa’s first transport ventilator and is in the process of starting South Goa’s first Component Blood Bank. In the last year a conscious decision was made to add new departments like complex obstetrics’ and gynaecology and ophthalmology. We have also over-hauled our gas systems, Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and operation theatres. We have expanded our external consultation centres in Goa and outside the state and that presently stand at close to 10 in number. This is in addition to our free clinics in South Goa. In the last 5 years, the hospital has grown into a large institute, looked upon for serving those in need, and hosting a plethora of various departments. We are very proud to say that we were at the forefront of tackling and treating Covid-19 patients. We were solely responsible for conducting Covid testing and screening at the Goa airport and was part of the testing carried out at the state borders, both by road and rail. In January 2023, as we entered the 20th anniversary of the institute, and in memory of Late Victor Albuquerque, a 10 bedded ‘Victor Albuquerque Memorial ward,’ to provide free treatment for the poor and needy was commenced. A brand new emergency and trauma center was also inaugurated, on the occasion.
Roana faces her share of roadblocks and challenges, like every professional. “It is difficult to balance between my personal and professional life. I sometimes feel that I take my personal life for granted and I have yet to find a way to manage both.”
Roana is inspired by every woman who breaks the glass ceiling unapologetically and says her biggest support is her family.
In the last one year, the Alcon Victor Group, which was strictly based in Goa, has expanded beyond state borders when they opened the 152 room Radisson Blu at Hinjewadi, Pune. “We aspire to continue in this direction whether it is in the hospitality or the healthcare sector,” she says when speaking on her future plans.
Roana concludes with a message to career-oriented women. “I love this quote: If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit. Also, planning/ organising your tasks help in swifter execution”
