The Hindu Business Line : Wockhardt to set up hospitals in Surat, Rajkot

Wockhardt Hospitals is adding Surat and Rajkot to its national footprint. The two mid-sized Rs 250-crore greenfield hospitals are in addition to the Rs 500-crore expansion the group embarked on in 2003 to set up additional facilities at Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata, according to Mr Vishal Bali, CEO, Wockhardt Hospitals Group.

Along with a planned big foray into Delhi by 2007-end and recent additions in Hyderabad (in a tie-up with Kamineni) and Nagpur, Wockhardt would soon be a chain of over 15 hospitals and one of the top two healthcare providers for domestic and overseas patients, Mr Bali told Business Line.

In Bangalore South, the group's Rs 170-crore, 400-bed multi-specialty centre on Bannerghatta Road has just become operational.

This second facility with a built- up area of three lakh sq ft is currently the group's largest hospital.

It adds orthopaedics, neurology-neurosurgery and gastrointestinal surgery to cardiology, which was primarily offered at the earlier 150-bed facility.

The new hospital has the Group's only dedicated maternal care service on an entire floor and provides 13 comprehensive stay-and-deliver suites targeted at the city's upmarket clientele.

The 150-bed cardiology hospital at Surat and the 200-bed predominantly orthopaedic and neurology facility at Rajkot are due to be ready by the end of this year. Delhi would add another 150 beds.

All the expansions would take the group's capacity to well beyond the current 1,300 and staff strength of 5,000 by the year-end.

The growth is also meant to cater to an increasing clientele coming in from the US, the UK and Europe.

In May this year, Wockhardt announced plans to start a string of 25-bed standalone ICCUs (intensive cardiac care units) across the country, starting with Bangalore.

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