Fortis Healthcare Ltd plans to set up a chain of cardiac care centres offering a comprehensive range of services spanning preventive care to heart transplant procedures.

The Fortis Centre for Heart Failure Management and Heart Transplant, set up 18 months ago at the Fortis Malar hospital in Chennai, has conducted 16 heart transplants. Aditya Vij, Chief Executive Officer, Fortis Healthcare Ltd, said the company plans to set up similar centres in its other large hospitals across the country.

According to KR Balakrishnan, Director at the centre, the hospital can implant Ventricular Assist Devices in patients slated for heart transplants, a service he says only a few hospitals in the country offer.

“Artificial heart pumps are becoming as common as pacemakers, and every hospital has a long waiting list of patients up for heart transplants,” he told reporters at an event to unveil the centre here on Friday.

A heart transplant requires weeks of planning to keep every other medical subsystem ready, he said. A heart taken from a donor must be implanted into a recipient within two hours. “This requires a dedicated team of cardiologists monitoring the patient for weeks after the operation, and hence the need for a comprehensive cardiac care centre,” he said.

Fortis has initiated negotiations with the State Health Secretary to include heart transplants in the State-sponsored health insurance schemes.

A heart transplant can cost around ₹15 lakh, and is unaffordable for the lower and middle-income groups.

Vij said the hospital chain has a target to achieve 10,000 beds in three years.

Related Topics