The SRM Group is setting up a 360-bed, super-speciality hospital in Chennai at an investment of Rs 150 crore.

The group operates two hospitals attached to medical colleges – a 1,222-bed hospital in Kattankulathur, near Chennai and a 450-bed facility Tiruchi. “Since we have experience in the field, we wanted to expand into a corporate hospital set up,” said the group's Chairman, Mr Ravi Pachamoothoo.

SRM is converting an existing building into a hospital using modular fitting and pre-fabricated systems. The 2.30-lakh-sq ft building in Vadapalani, in the heart of the city, had previously housed Tata Consultancy Services' offices. (Fortis Malar is coming up with a 250-bed hospital in the neighbourhood.)

Specialities

The hospital, SRM Institute for Health Sciences, is expected to be operational around July. It will cover specialities such as cardiac, neurology, plastic surgery, gastroenterology and nephrology. This is in addition to the regular disciplines such as orthopaedic, trauma, gynaecology and spine care, he said.

The hospital will also have teaching programmes for young doctors, he said.

The hospital will house 14 operation theatres. Plans are on to start an oncology department. It is going to be headed by famous city-based surgeons.

The project cost of Rs 150 crore excludes cost of land, which the group had bought for Rs 145 crore four years ago. The total campus spans 5.5 acres, enabling expansion, said Mr Pachamoothoo.

The hospital, targeted at the middle and upper middle class, promises to keep tariffs “moderate”. Unlike several hospitals where doctors charge consultancy fees, the SRM hospital wants to control costs by paying its doctors salaries.

Employees

The hospital will employ around 250 doctors. “We also have a post graduate student intake of 75 per year at our Kattankulathur college, which we will dip into. This will ensure we face no doctor shortage.”

The SRM Group started the SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre and School of Education, Faculty of Science and Humanities at Kattankulathur in 2005. The same year, it also set up the SRM College of Pharmacy, Nursing, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, in Chennai.

In 2007, the SSRM Kattankuthur Dental College was started under the SRM University. Two years later, the group launched the Chennai Medical College in Tiruchi.

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