After Nano, the country will soon have a low-cost model for hospitals, when Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals unveils its first such project in Mysore next year.
The 300-bed low-cost hospital expected to be ready by May, is in collaboration with L&T, and will be showcased to policy-makers if they want to repeat the model in other States, Dr Devi Shetty, Chairman, Narayana Hrudayalaya, told Business Line.
The estimated $6-million (about Rs 30-crore) project was conceptualised by Narayana Hrudayalaya and L&T's engineers worked for a year on the design, he added.
Asia's largest children's hospital
Dr Shetty was in Mumbai to announce another project — Asia's largest super-speciality hospital for children — a 1,000-bed project to be located in the heart of the city. Narayana Hrudayalaya is partnering SRCC (Society for Rehabilitation of Crippled Children) to set up this project.
While project details were not disclosed, the SRCC President, Mr S. Ramadorai, said they were involved in supporting the hospital that would have Narayana Hrudayalaya as its development and management partner.
The first phase of the project with 200 beds will be commissioned in 18 months, Dr Shetty said, adding that work should begin in about four months once all permissions are in place. Covering specialities such as heart, urology, gastro-intestinal and orthopaedics, a significant part of the care would be less than the market rate or free, he added.
Cost factor
Governments across the world are concerned with providing affordable healthcare, Dr Shetty said. In the low-cost model, L&T brings in the engineering design and cost will be incurred by NH, said Dr A. Raghuvanshi, Narayana Hrudayalaya's Vice-Chairman and Group Chief Executive.
About 70 per cent of the structure is pre-fabricated and this helps save construction time and cost. The time taken for such a project is about one-third the normal timeline of 18 months. It would cost about Rs 1,400 a sqft , where a regular corporate hospital would cost about Rs 5,000 a sqft, he added. The only requirement is for a large piece of land, he said.
The plan is to produce one model and present it to other State Governments that can build similar models of affordable healthcare. Narayana Hrudayalaya is coming up with a large hospital in Ahmedabad in January. Among other projects at that site would be a medical college and a low-cost hospital, Narayana Hrudayalaya top-brass said.