The Hindu Business Line : Artemis hopes to combine research with health delivery

New Delhi, Dec. 14 Artemis Health Sciences, which has just completed phase one of its flagship hospital in Gurgaon, is working to make the 250-bed facility a leading healthcare research hub.

According to Mr Onkar S. Kanwar, Chairman, PTL Enterprises, the company behind the venture, there has been a lot of interest from private equity funds for Artemis Health Sciences (AHS). “After telecom, financial services, healthcare will be the next big thing,” predicts Mr Kanwar.

The vision behind AHS is to take healthcare delivery, up the value chain to a scientific pursuit. Global healthcare delivery is at a crossroads, and India has a huge opportunity in developing healthcare of the future, believes Dr Kushagra Katariya, CEO, AHS.

Partnership

“Internationally, healthcare earns three times as much from research as it does on delivery. And we would like to be on the frontline of that research and have built our infrastructure accordingly to meet requirements of a credible research centre,” he says. In line with that, Artemis has already signed an R&D partnership with Philips Medical Systems in the area of imaging and monitoring technology.

The company is also betting big on translational medicine which attempts to connect more directly basic research to patient care. “India is a compelling destination. Firstly, the intellect pool and then you can see a lot of pathology here,” says Dr Kataria. The multi speciality hospital, which is to have 500 beds finally, would like to be recognised for its expertise in oncology, cardiovascular, and minimal invasive surgery and orthopaedics.

Artemis which also has plans for a medicity expects to have a national presence. “Our blue print for growth strategy is being finalised,” says Mr Kanwar, adding that for now the company is focused on its flagship hospital for which it has already invested Rs 240 crore. “But if I take an enterprise value, it’s Rs 450 crore. I could have set up a hotel here and received better return. But this is a different venture… a long cherished dream” he adds. Mr Kanwar hopes that the Government starts sharing the industry’s optimism and grants it infrastructure status. “It should be done as soon as yesterday, if we have to grow we need that,” he says.

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