Quess Corp, Fairfax to set up paediatric specialty centre at CMC Vellore

Business services provider Quess Corp Ltd, along with Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, will invest Rs 300 crore to set up a paediatric specialty centre at the Kannigapuram campus of Christian Medical College, Vellore in Tamil Nadu.

Quess Corp and Fairfax Financial Holdings have signed an agreement to this effect with Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore to set up the centre which will have 350 beds covering a range of paediatric specialties, Quess Corp said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

The proposed centre, which will be called 'CMC Vellore Paediatric Specialty Centre', will provide leading state-of-the-art paediatric medical and surgical services, it said adding that the centre would also focus on education, training and research.

"This will help meet the medical needs of patients coming not only from different parts of India but across the globe for consultation and treatment," it added.

CMC Director JV Peter said, "We believe that paediatric specialisation is the next priority for our country. With this centre, we have come full circle from our initial focus on mothers and children to developing and providing paediatric specialisation services and training programs for the country."

Fairfax Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Prem Watsa said CMC Vellore has a long-established culture of caring for the poor and vulnerable.

"Fairfax is committed to giving back to the communities where we operate and we believe this initiative will enable CMC to lead the way in transforming paediatric care in India," he added.

Quess Chairman Ajit Isaac said the last two years have been a testing time for healthcare providers, with institutions like CMC Vellore being at the helm of maximising healthcare access to a larger section of society.

"Quess, through Care Works Foundation, has been supporting children's wellbeing, health and hygiene programs for years. This partnership takes our commitment of 'impacting lives' further by improving medical care access for children in need," he said.

The centre, upon completion, will be located in a building named the 'Fairfax-Quess Block'. It will also support the development of programmes, services and resources that are scalable and transferable for potential expansion to future sites across the country, the company said.