Bangalore-based Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals (NHH) which is establishing Rs 600 crore Health City in Bangalore, on Thursday, announced that they plan to build low-cost heart hospitals across India with collective capacity of 30,000 beds in the next 5-7 years time, according to a BS report.
The Narayana Hrudayalaya Group, with 14 hospital having collective capacity of 6,000 beds in seven states, on Thursday commenced operations of its 300-bed health care facility in eastern part of the city under the first phase of the Health City project with an investment of Rs 110 crore. The remaining project is expected to be completed in next four years, noted the report.
Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairman of Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals and one of the leading cardiac surgeons in the country said: "In India as many as 2.5 million people require heart surgeries every year, but less than 0.1 million get operated upon. We are in the process of building low-cost heart hospitals across the country using prefabricated construction material. We intend to have such hospitals in place with collective capacity of 30,000 beds in the next 5-7 years. This is in a bid to reduce the cost and make surgery affordable".
Dr Shetty said that each such hospital would have 300 beds each which can be built with in six months with a cost of Rs 30 crore each. "We believe that the entire delivery concept of health care will undergo a dramatic change and India will become the first country in the world to dissociate health care from affluence," he added. The NHH has already commenced nine such low-cost heart hospital projects. One such project in Mysore with 300 bed capacity is likely to become operational in next 3-4 months, the report pointed out.
Talking about group's project in city NHH Managing Director, VC and Group CEO, Ashutosh Raghuvanshi said: "The Health City, spread across 37 acre land in Rakhiyal area in Bangalore, will have 5,000-bed capacity in its various super speciality units, besides a medical college, nursing and paramedical educational institution.
What is more, the hospitals will have facilities for cardiac surgery, orthopedic cases, neuro-sciences, urology, nephrology, pediatrics and other advanced medical procedures.
Raghuvanshi said that there were also in talks for setting up similar health cities in other city of the country".
The Narayana Hrudayalaya Group which has implemented micro health insurance for underprivileged people in Bangalore with a monthly premium of Rs 5, also expressed optimisim that Gujarat government would replicate their concept in the state for the benefit of the poor, added the report.
