Wockhardt Hospitals makes debut in Rajkot

Wockhardt Hospitals announced its foray into Rajkot today. The healthcare major will provide medical facilities in association with NM Virani General Hospital operated by the Ashok Gondhiya Memorial Trust.

The company plans to spend Rs 35 crore in two phases and will manage and upgrade the super-speciality healthcare facilities at NM Virani Wockhardt Hospital.

"We would be investing Rs 18 crore in the first phase and the rest would continue," said Vishal Bali, CEO of Wockhardt Hospitals .

The land on which the hospital has been constructed was given at a token amount to the trust and was not transferable vide legal provision.

As a result, concerned government agencies including the district collectorate and charity commissionerate had also issued legal notice to the trust of the hospital, asking explanations and clarifications into the matter.

However, company officials said that they had sought legal advice for the same.

Explaining on the reasons as to why Wockhardt was entering Rajkot, Bali said, "Our research indicates that tertiary bed capacity in Rajkot is hardly 1,500 beds for one crore plus population of the region. Secondly, lack of adequate critical care facilities results in 30 per cent deaths of emergency care patients, meaning three deaths out of every 10 patients occur due to inadequate critical care facilities and lack of emergency care,"

Still further, 20 per cent patients die due to inadequate healthcare environment, meaning that every two out of 10 patients die because of inadequate healthcare environment. As a result, 73 per cent population of the city feels that there is a need of good quality hospital in city.

The Saurashtra region, which constitutes one per cent of the population should principally have 5-6 per cent tertiary healthcare facilities, but instead has only 0.1 per cent tertiary healthcare facility available in the region.

As a result, more than 10,000 patients from the Saurashtra region travel outside to receive high-end care every year. So, all these factors together propelled us to mark our presence here, added Bali.