Kiran C Patel

Kiran C. Patel is an Indian-American philanthropist, serial entrepreneur, hotelier and cardiologist.^[1]

Kiran C Patel
Kiran Patel and his wife Pallavi Patel at Euro PCR 2019
Born	1949 Zambia
Nationality	American
Other names	Dr. K
Occupation(s)	Cardiologist, businessman
Spouse	Pallavi Patel
Children	3
Parent	Chhotubhai Patel (father)

Early life and education

Patel was born in Zambia in 1949 to a Hindu Gujarati Indian family. He got his primary education under the British educational system in Zambia and earned diplomas from Cambridge University and the University of London. Patel attended medical school in India at Gujarat University^[1] and completed his internship in Africa. In 1976, he moved to the United States. Patel did his residency in internal medicine in New Jersey in 1980 and completed a fellowship in the cardiology program affiliated with Columbia University of New York in 1982.

Career

After moving to Tampa, Florida in 1982, Patel began his practice as a cardiologist.^[2] In 1985 he started a physicians practice ownership and management company, which quickly expanded to 14 practices including family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and cardiology. In 1992 Patel became chairman of the board of Well Care HMO, INC. which under his leadership became this 5th largest Medicaid HMO in the United States. In 1999, he acquired 55% of Kingston N.Y.-based WellCare Management Group Inc, which managed two HMO's in Connecticut and New York. In 2002, he sold majority share in the WellCare Management Group, at which point WellCare Management was providing services to over 400,000 members. In 2007, Patel started a new insurance holding company called America's 1st Choice Holdings of Florida and acquired two Tampa Bay based Medicare Advantage Health Plans, Freedom Health and Optimum Health. He grew these companies to over 115,000 members and over $1 billion in revenue, at which point he sold to Anthem in April 2019.^[3][4][5]

In 2018, Patel invested $60 million in the medical device company Concept Medical.^[6] He committed to gift $50 million and an additional $150 million towards real estate and facility expansion in the medical education complex that will be part of NSU’s Tampa Bay Regional Campus, in Clearwater.^[7]

Medical insurance

In 1992, Patel bought Well Care HMO, Inc. (Well Care) for approximately $5 million. He sold the company a decade later in 2002 for $200 million.^[8]

In 2007 he purchased Freedom Health and Optimum Healthcare Inc.

In 2017, he sold his second insurance company – America’s 1st Choice (including Freedom Health and Optimum Healthcare) to Anthem Inc. for an undisclosed amount.^[8]

Freedom Health lawsuit

On 17 August 2009, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the district court in Tampa, alleging that Freedom was manipulating enrollment rolls. Patel and his brother Rupesh Shah were among the named defendants. The complaint also alleged that Freedom was engaging in service-area-expansion fraud—misrepresenting the number of health-care providers in its network in certain counties so that it could expand the areas in which it offered Medicare Advantage.^[9] Once the investigation was announced, Patel told employees "not to destroy documents or other evidence" in an emergency meeting.

New Yorker article further reports, "In 2016, seven years after Darren Sewell filed his case, the Justice Department informed Inman that it would join the suit. In May 2017, after months of difficult negotiations, Freedom settled charges that it had violated the False Claims Act and agreed to pay $31.7 million. Freedom's former chief operating officer, Sidd Pagidipati, paid seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars to settle charges related to his role in the alleged service-area-expansion fraud. Neither admitted liability.^[10]

Awards and recognition

In 2019, Patel was given the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the government of India.^[11] In January 2019, the Clearwater City Council issued a resolution to rename Damascus Road as Dr. Kiran C. Patel Boulevard in recognition of Patel's contribution to Nova Southeastern University's Tampa Bay Regional Campus.^[12]

Charity history

Patel has supported multiple groups through charitable donations:

1. Patel foundation committed for $225 Million to Nova Southeastern University's colleges of osteopathic and allopathic medicine.^[13][14][15]
2. $30.5 Million to the University of South Florida for the Patel Center for Global Solutions and College of Global Sustainability.^[16][17]
3. $171,500 to build homes for poor people to Habitat for Humanity.^[18][19]
4. Patel pledged $7.5 million donation to Florida Hospital Carrollwood from 2017-2018.^[20]

Namesake institutes

• Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O)^[21]
• Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine (M.D)
• Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel Allied Health Building
• Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions
• Kiran C. Patel High School^[22][23]
• Kiran C. Patel Research Institute ^[24]
• Patel Conservatory – Straz Center for the Performing Arts
• Dr. Kiran C Patel Centre for Sustainable Development, IIT Gandhinagar, Gujarat^[25][26]

Personal life

Patel is married to pediatrician Pallavi Patel.^[27][28] They have two daughters and one son.^[16]

Patel developed vitiligo in 2002. He is not seeking treatment for the condition.^[29]

References

1. Choudhary, Arjun (6 January 2020). "Dr. Kiran Patel adds to hospitality portfolio with 650-acre resort on Florida's east coast" – via bbc.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
2. "Drs. Kiran C. and Pallavi Patel". NSU. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
3. "Miami medical company will move to Tampa after Dr. Kiran Patel's $60 million investment". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
4. "Tampa doctor's deal for New York HMO set to close soon". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
5. NSU. "Drs. Kiran C. and Pallavi Patel". NSU. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
6. "Tampa company with Dr. Kiran Patel as chairman wins key designation for devices that reduce risk of heart blockages". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
7. "Doctor couple Kiran and Pallavi Patel announce one of the largest philanthropic gifts". The Economic Times. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
8. "Why Kiran Patel is selling his health insurance companies to Anthem". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
9. HealthPayerIntelligence (7 June 2017). "Two Payers Liable for $32.5M in Medicare Advantage Fraud Suit". HealthPayerIntelligence. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
10. Kolhatkar, Sheelah (28 January 2019). "Controversies". The New Yorker.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
11. "List of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awardees (PBSA) for the year 2019". 23 January 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
12. "Road in Clearwater to be Renamed in Honor of Dr. Kiran C. Patel | NSU Newsroom". nsunews.nova.edu. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
13. . The Universal News Network. 3 October 2018. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
14. Candid. "Patel Foundation Commits $200 Million to Nova Southeastern University". Philanthropy News Digest (PND). Retrieved 17 August 2019.
15. Candid. "Nova Southeastern Receives $25 Million for Allopathic Medicine". Philanthropy News Digest (PND). Retrieved 17 August 2019.
16. "Floridian of the Year: Kiran Patel: 'First, I give to charity'". Florida Trend. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
17. Schreiner, Mark. "$12 Million Gift Creates USF College of Global Sustainability". wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
18. Macar, Robin (27 February 2018). "Patel Family Foundation presents $171,500 check to build 2 Habitat homes". Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County, FL. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
19. "Dr. Kiran Patel donates $171,500 in dedicating home to single mother in Florida". The Universal News Network. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
20. "Florida Hospital Carrollwood spending $17.5 million to expand emergency department". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
21. "In Clearwater, a state-of-the-art medical school now overlooks Tampa Bay". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
22. "Kiran C. Patel High School opens in Temple Terrace". The Business Journals. n.d. Retrieved 19 December 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
23. "Hillsborough's charter school enrollment tops 28,000, with more campuses on the way". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
24. "Why is this Indian giving $200m to Florida?". BBC News. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
25. Verma, Prachi (31 January 2019). "Centre for work on local and global solutions launched by IIT". The Economic Times. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
26. "Kiran Patel launches sustainability center in India". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 3 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
27. "'If you've seen it, I don't want it': Dr. Kiran Patel's palatial Carrollwood compound, with eye-catching designs at every turn, inches toward completion". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
28. "10 loans, one address: Tampa philanthropist's hotels got millions in federal aid". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
29. "Kiran Patel: 'First, I give to charity' | Floridian of the Year Feature | Feature - Florida Trend". www.floridatrend.com. Retrieved 13 December 2022.