The Hindu Business Line : Corporate hospitals target women

The old nursing homes catering to the maternity needs of women are being replaced by upmarket specialised healthcare centres set up by corporate hospital groups.

First Apollo Health and Lifestyle introduced its brand of women's hospital called The Cradle and followed it up with The Women's Clinic.

Fortis Healthcare, after acquiring Apollo's Delhi franchisee of the Cradle, has forayed into the sector renaming the centre La Femme, while Wockhardt too has set up a dedicated centre for women in its recently opened Bangalore hospital. Others such as Max Healthcare too are eying this segment seriously.

Mr Ratan Jalan, CEO, Apollo Health and Lifestyle, said, "Though most of the diseases are common to both men and women, we wanted to create a different atmosphere at The Cradle, which is a birthing centre. We wanted to make the whole experience joyful. However, we have launched one women-specific clinic that will have facilities for mammography, diagnosing osteoporosis, cervical cancer and so on."

Apollo plans to launch 10-15 more birthing centres across the country including three in Mumbai. Other cities considered are Jaipur, Pune and Baroda. But other hospitals such as Wockhardt and Max are looking beyond maternity needs of women. According to Mr Vishal Bali, Vice-President, Operations, Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd, "We believe that birthing is just one of the services on offer. With increased awareness, high stress levels and changing environment, the sub-segmentation makes sense. Also, the health needs of women change every 10 years."

Max Healthcare too plans to launch Women's Heart - a special programme designed to handle entire range of cardiac problems among women. "Max intends to start programmes on infertility and genetic counselling in near future," said Dr Narottam Puri, Executive Director - Medical Services Max Healthcare.

While corporate hospitals are creating separate brands for women, the focus here is also on creating the right ambience. A spokesperson for Fortis Healthcare added, "Women neglect their own health and think of their family first. It is therefore important to first create awareness amongst women that their health is as important as other members of the family and then offer them medical care in an environment that is `for women', where they feel at ease."

More Stories on : Strategy | Medical Institutions & Hospitals | Gender

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