The Hindu Business Line : Wockhardt plans 225-bed hospital in Delhi

WOCKHARDT Hospitals Ltd looks set to break into the backyard of the Delhi-based Fortis Healthcare Ltd and Max Healthcare, with its plans to set up an estimated 225-bed hospital in the Capital.

This would complete Wockhardt Hospitals' presence in four key locations across the country, given that it has hospitals in Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata.

"We are currently undertaking a market research to identify the speciality to get into and we should be there in the next couple of years," Mr Vishal Bali, Vice-President Operations with Wockhardt Hospitals, told Business Line. The project would cost about Rs 100 crore.

Wockhardt Hospital's strategy to set up a cluster of speciality hospitals has been unique in that it has gone against the tide of setting up a central hospital connected to down-stream smaller clinics, or the hub-and-spoke model. Other recognised names in the branded healthcare delivery segment — Apollo, Fortis and Max — have established their networks in the country based on the hub-and-spoke model.

Elaborating on the benefits of this model, analysts said that it helps cushion the financial pressure on a hospital, since it facilitates the economic use of facilities through internal networks. Further, they observe, most branded healthcare players operate on the franchisee model, where the money is put by the entity partnering with the hospital. This further blunts the capital-intensive process of setting up new hospitals.

"Yes hospitals have a high gestation and there is internal pressure, but having worked this model for the last 15-odd years, there is no rethink on the strategy. We are now convinced of this model and its success," said Mr Bali.

About a year ago, Wockhardt had committed Rs 500 crore towards five more hospital complexes in the next three years. Mr Habil Khorakiwala, Chairman, Wockhardt, had then said that the five new projects included one in Bangalore and Kolkata and two in Mumbai. While no details were available on where the funds would come from, Mr Bali said that the plans were on track and the only region yet to be covered in the country - the North, was also being catered to now.

Responding to observations that corporate hospitals were still beyond the reach of the masses, he said that Wockhardt undertook out-reach programmes to promote messages on good health and preventive care. On the steep pricing of corporate hospitals, he said: " Tertiary healthcare across the board is expensive, though it is the cheapest in India. We try to rationalise costs through improving internal procedures and researching into medical processes. A scientific advancement helps cut costs and improve the quality of life."

Significantly, Wockhardt Hospitals has alliances with global health insurance players including being the first hospital in South Asia on the worldwide panel of BlueCross BlueShield - touted to be the largest health insurance provider in the US. "Besides facilitating patients from other countries to come to India for medical treatment, it also helps the hospital in bench-marking against the best global standards in the industry," he said.

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