Meet Dr. Rakesh Ranjan, a psychiatrist and the founder of the Charak Center for Health and Wellness, with multiple office locations in northeast Ohio. He is a real Clevelander. When asked about Cleveland, he said, “I love Cleveland!” The four seasons, cultural diversity, and rich history are just a few of the reasons he loves the area.
Dr. Ranjan is also passionate about psychiatry. He became a psychiatrist for many reasons. While he was in his psychiatric rotation during medical school in India, he was deeply affected when he saw a famous mathematician who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He saw the impact of that not just on the individual himself, but also on the people around that person and beyond. He says, “I saw the need for a lot of research and new information in this field of psychiatry.” This led him to pursue the field as his career.
Charak Center
Dr. Ranjan now has the Charak Center for Health and Wellness, as well as a Charak Home Health Care, and Charak Clinical Research Center. He admits that owning his own practice was not initially his plan. Before opening the Charak Center, he ran another clinic. When he left, the family members of his patients approached him wanting to know his future plans. They asked, “Why don’t you open an office?” Dr. Ranjan opened his Cleveland office, and then four other locations came along organically, with people retiring or asking him to take over their practices.
Dr. Ranjan always had in mind that if he could create his own mental health system that it would include both an outpatient facility and a home health care facility. That way, patients could receive both types of services in a coordinated manner. Integrating psychiatric and medical care, “is extremely critical with the population that we treat,” he says. “Not only with the pyschiatric population, but other patients also.”
In addition to his current centers, Dr. Ranjan is also in the process of creating on-site labs and an on-site pharmacy. He wants his practice to be a one-stop shop for his patients. Dr. Ranjan added that what would really make him happy would be to start a wellness center, offering a range of services from yoga to providing supplements.
Dr. Ranjan explains that he has patients who inquire about social security disability benefits all the time. His center is able to provide his patients with case managers. The case managers help them with disability paperwork, and take them to a disability office. “I think we may be the most versatile mental health outfit in Ohio,” he says. The center takes every insurance, treats all age groups and psychiatric conditions. The center also has its own home health care and research company. “We are capable of treating any type of patient in a coordinated manner, and provide a whole range of services that I think are really unmatched.”
Dr. Rakesh Ranjan: 12395 McCracken Rd., Suite A, Garfield Heights, OH 44125, (216)-587-6727
