'Over 3,000 people will be a part of Fortis'

Q&A: VISHAL BALI

Last month, India’s second-largest corporate hospital chain Fortis Healthcare announced the acquisition of 10 hospitals of rival Wockhardt. The Rs 909-crore deal, the biggest ever in Indian healthcare, also saw the entire top management of Wockhardt Hospitals join Fortis’ network. In an exclusive interview with Joe C Mathew, Wockhardt Hospitals Group CEO VISHAL BALI gives his views on the deal and what it means to the management and medical teams who currently run Wockhardt. Bali, who has been with Wockhardt for 18 years, is widely seen as one of the key players behind the growth of Wockhardt Hospitals. Excerpts:

You have been silent throughout the Fortis-Wockhardt deal. Now that the acquisition has happened, can you share your views on the deal?
It’s going to be a seamless merger. The brand transition will take a couple of months, but the integration process will begin immediately after the transaction, which is likely to close in two months. The integration will be smooth as there is no overlap of geographies. Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata — the three cities where Wockhardt Hospitals are well established — are fairly new regions for Fortis. However, the details of the integration are yet to be worked out. From Fortis’ point of view, the acquisition creates a lot of value.

How big is the team (headed by you) which is going to be a part of the Fortis network of hospitals?
There is a very large team... Over 3,000 people are moving to be a part of the Fortis network. Fortis wanted us to be with them as part of the deal (smiles). The idea is to make sure that the healthcare facilities and the tremendous depth of its management talent come together in a manner which creates more value to the organisation (Fortis). The attrition rate has always been low among the top teams of Wockhardt.

On an average, all our top executives and leading medical practitioners have spent more than five years in Wockhardt. Then there is a great pool of consultant talent — of 650 specialist doctors, who are also going to be there. These are some of the hidden values of the acquisition.

Are there any early signs of integration?
Yes. We don’t do the entire pathology services in many of our hospitals. Some of them have started to outsource it from Religare (Religare Super Labs owned by the promoters of Fortis). We feel we need to remain in the high profitability business and try to outsource the rest.

The integration, as I said, will not be much of a problem as the acquired facilities are in the geographies where Fortis doesn't have much presence today. So it is intellectual networking that needs to take place.

You continue to be the CEO of the Wockhardt group of hospitals even today. What will be the future of the hospitals that are not a part of the deal once you severe ties with them?
The hospitals that will continue to be owned and operated under the Wockhardt brand have a well-functioning management team in place and will continue to do well.

Wockhardt was nursing plans to be a pan-India player while the acquisition happened. After the deal, what will be your priorities? Will you be primarily focusing on running the existing facilities as part of the Fortis network?
There is a project team that is looking into the greenfield expansions in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore. I would like to focus on consolidating the growth of the business in India and also expand the international base of our patients, which has grown by 35 per cent for our Mumbai and Bangalore locations.