They are setting up small hospitals that provide basic facilities, while the high-end diagnostics is done at units in bigger cities.
Hospital chains are deploying a unique strategy to fan out into hinterlands.
They are setting up small hospitals catering to specific requirements in small towns to tap the exploding demand from those locations.
ColumbiaAsia, which has eight hospitals in India, including three in Bangalore, is planning to start a 10-bed hospital in Doddaballapur, 41 km north of Bangalore, around January.
This hospital will have basic facilities such as paediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics, said Nandakumar Jairam, chairman and group medical director, adding that it will be compact and deliver good technology with a focus on reducing hospital stay of the patients.
“Use of technology will be to the extent required by the local population,” said Jairam.
BS Ajaikumar, chairman and CEO of HCG Hospitals, said hospitals in semi-urban areas generally function as spokes of the hub which is present in the city.
These hospitals are usually 20,000 square feet in size, consisting of about 30 beds, which is 5-6 times smaller than the ones in metros, said Ajaikumar. HCG has such hospitals in Shimoga, Hubli, Erode and Tiruchirapalli.
“These hospitals have basic X-ray facilities and labs. But all the high-end diagnostics as well as MRI, CT scan are done at a centralised hub using tele-radiology, tele-pathology, etc,” said Ajaikumar.
However, Manipal Hospital’s smaller hospital of 100 beds in Salem has specialties such as neurology, cardiology, orthopaedics, while the one at Vijaywada has oncology, according to its CEO Rajen Padukone.
“It depends on the availability of doctors and nurses as well as paramedics and technicians in those areas,” said Padukone.
Apollo Hospitals has quite a few 100-150 bed hospitals called ‘Apollo Reach’ in places such as Karimnagar, Karur and Karaikudi.
Bangalore-based Manipal’s 100-bed hospitals in Salem, Udupi and Karkala will soon be expanded to include more beds depending on the demand, said Padukone.
Industry experts say the benefits of having limited bed hospitals in small towns are far too many.
Firstly, all costs, including manpower, land, operations are much less than those bigger in size.
“Limited capacities mean limited number of medical and paramedical staff manning the hospitals. This brings down the salary and recruitment costs considerably. The real estate, building and infrastructure costs are also about 25-30% less due to the limited space and technologies with which the hospitals operate,” said a healthcare consultant from a consulting firm.
With not much investment, the breakeven time is also much less, say, within 18-24 months, said the consultant.
“Even if the volumes take time to pick up, we don’t lose much as the overall costs are less,” said Ajaikumar.
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