Fortis Healthcare (India) Ltd on Thursday said that it will set up 50 standalone dialysis centres across the country in two years. The new chain has been branded as Renkare. Fortis will invest nearly Rs 80 lakh on an average per centre. In the first phase, six centres will come up across Delhi and NCR.
Mr Aditya Vij, CEO, Fortis Healthcare (India) Ltd, told Business Line that the company was in talks with other hospitals to house some of these dialysis centres. “The idea is to go nearer to the patient. For this, we are looking at a mix of setting up standalone centres and within a hospital,” he said.
Each dialysis costs around Rs 2,200-2,500 and Renkare plans to work in three shifts a day. The centres will also focus on educational programmes, to help patients live reasonably healthy and productive lives, even while on haemodialysis. The centres will have standardised, international dialysis protocols, including the unique Water Testing Protocol.
The company launched its first centre at Greater Kailash 1 in South Delhi, “With Renkare, we will establish a pan-India network of standalone centres that will offer a high quality, convenient and relaxed experience to dialysis patients,” Mr Vij said.
Dr Varun Sethi, CEO, Renkare, added, “We will start with major metros, and expanding the network to tier-II and III cities, where access to care is most needed, but often unavailable”
India is often described as the diabetes capital of the world and renal failure is highly prevalent here. Estimates suggest that 800,000 people suffer from End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) in India today, a number which is expected to balloon to approximately 950,000 by 2015. Unfortunately, of all the ESRD patients that require dialysis, less than 10 per cent have access to a dialysis facility. According to Fortis, most dialysis facilities in urban India are stretched to their limits and almost 200,000 people die in India each year, because they lack access to renal care.