Ayurvedic eye hospital plans pan-India presence

Kochi-based Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic Eye Hospital and Research Centre plans to open 50 outlets across the country by 2013. It already has 14 hospitals across the country of which 10 are out of Kerala. The next hospital at Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh will be functional by March next.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, NPP Namboothiri, managing director and chief physician, said two more such centres would be opened in Orissa and Himachal Pradesh as the state governments had shown keen interest in ayurvedic treatment. Most of the hospitals outside Kerala are on a public-private partnership model in which the state government provides all facilities including the land and building. He said the company had targeted to open one centre in each state within the next two years.

 

The group also plans to commence a PG diploma course in Ayurvedic Opthalmolgy and the first batch is expected to commence next year. The hospital will also set up a Treatment Foundation for retinitis pigmentosa, which is prevalent in intra family marriages, and diabetic retinopathy. The foundation is set to be functional by March/April, next year, he said.

Hari N Namboothiri, managing director said the production capacity of the medicine unit of the group would be enhanced soon. The company is producing around 400 ayurvedic medicines. It registered a turnover of Rs 70 crore.