Ahmedabad's first 'green' hospital comes up near Sola

The latest latest addition to the city's string of multi-super speciality hospitals, Care Institute of Medical Sciences(CIMS) Hospital, boasts of being one of the few hospitals in the country that has a 'green' building.

Milan Chag, managing director of CIMS, claimed that it is one of the first eco-friendly hospitals in the country. "We have over 40 per cent open space filled with courtyards and gardens. Here we have ensured that natural light is abundant within the premise, besides the use of eco-friendly construction materials, installing rain-water harvesting pits, sewage plants to recycle water apart from using NComputing to save electrical energy", he explained.

The cardiac unit of the 150-bed hospital is operating since the last three months, while the entire facility would start from November 21. The overall investment in the hospital has been around Rs150 crore, and CIMS plans to scale it up to 450-beds in the future. "We have already submitted a primary project report to the state government to expand the facility into a 22 storey one in the future. Additional investment could be to the tune of Rs150 crore. But, the expansion project is likely to take off only after two-three years", Chag informed. CIMS has around 5,000 square yard land available for expansion at site. The current investment has been funded through a mix of debt and equity. "Around 35 per cent is debt from private equity players and banks, while the remaining is equity", he added. CIMS claimed that it would aim to operate in the lines of a community hospital, offering services at rates cheaper that prevailing market rates. "Cost of services here would be at least 10 per cent cheaper compared to major corporate hospitals", Chag claimed. CIMS has been operating a heart clinic at Rajkot since the last 10 years. It does not plan to expand to other cities of Gujarat at the moment. The Ahmedabad multi-speciality hospital would primarily cater to patients from Gujarat, parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.