A one-stop health hub

A one-stop health hub
Narayana Hrudayalaya’s Project Will Be A Boon To Bangalore
The Times of India

Bangalore: Did you know that there are over 1,650 kinds of surgeries performed on the human body, which need a huge number of specialists? But what if you could meet all the medical experts under one roof, right here in your city?
Such a concept is practically at work on Hosur Road and already half way through. Hospitals specialising in neurology, urology, ophthalmology, cancer, women and child care along with cardiology, all in one campus, is being built with an aim to make world class treatment affordable.
“Our aim is to decongest government hospitals by providing state-of-the-art treatment but at competitive rates,” said chairman of Narayana Hrudayalaya Institute of Cardiac Sciences Dr Devi Shetty, who is the brain behind the Narayana Health City project.
Spread over 30 acres, the project intends to build a 5,000-bed facility and 20,000 outpatient capacity. It is divided into three phases. While the first phase comprises hospitals specialising in cardiology and ophthalmology, the second phase will cover the 500-bed cancer hospital along with neuro and gastro entomology hospitals.
The third phase will have hospitals specialising in women and child care and a 500-bed hospital for patients suffering from tropical diseases like dengue, malaria and chikungunya.
Narayana Hrudayalaya, believes that in India, health problems always translate into a monetary issue for the family of the patient, especially if the patient is the sole earner. That is the reason why this hospital, which reserves a major chunk of its beds for the poor, has treated 23,000 rural people through free tele-medicine services in 141 rural areas from India and neighbouring countries. The hospital generates employment for women in rural clinics run in partnership with Biocon.
“Taking medical advances to the grassroots and women’s empowerment is our prime aim, but at the same time this is not to encash on the boom in medical tourism,” said Dr Shetty.
But how can a hi-tech hospital with best facilities and expert surgeons sustain itself what with the competition from other hospitals running high? “It’s by shifting the revenue focus from inpatients to outpatients,’’ said Dr Yohannan John, director of medical services of the hospital.
“Since there will be 20,000 outpatients visiting our hospitals as compared to 5,000 inpatients, funds will be generated from the OPD and percolated for treating inpatients,” John added.
The magnitude of patient inflow and degree of specialisation is evident in that the Health City, once complete, will have over 200 operation theatres. Some will also be reserved for free health camps.
“Around 30 heart surgeries are performed every day. This, we plan to increase to 70,” said Dr Shetty, also a senior consultant cardiac surgeon at the hospital.
The Health City, expected to be complete in three years, will also provide employment opportunities. It is estimated that around 20,000 medical and para-medical staff will be required, 90 per cent of them will be women. Forty-nine training programmes are being conducted at the Training and Research Institute to train doctors to international standards.