CIPACA, a leading rural ICU care provider, expects a major expansion in the state of Maharashtra with the prospect of partnering with at least 10 rural hospitals in the near term.

Presently, CIPACA is in the process of finalising partnerships with three hospitals in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, while hospitals from other districts are engaged in discussion, it said in a statement.

“After Tamil Nadu, we will see a major expansion of our rural ICU operations in Maharashtra,” said Raja Amarnath, Founder and Managing Director of CIPACA.   

Private hospitals in small towns and rural areas are hesitant in establishing ICU units due to lack of volumes and low returns on investment. CIPACA has built a viable business model here; more than 15 hospitals in rural areas across the southern, western and eastern regions of the country have been successfully offering affordable ICU care to rural people while fetching good revenue.

‘Need of the hour’

Rural ICUs are the need of the hour and there is a requirement for at least one standardised ICU in every taluk of the country. If this is done, people can reach the hospital in 30 mins and critically-ill patients will be given “golden hour” treatment which can save lives, Amarnath said.

Meanwhile, the Chennai-headquartered healthcare firm has also proposed the ‘shared economy’ model, which will facilitate access to CIPACA’s ICU facilities by other hospitals in the region that are unable to provide emergency care to critically-ill rural patients. The proposed model is expected to have profound financial and societal benefits and potentially improve revenues of hospitals.

“For example, if other hospitals in Ahmednagar district use Shrikonda Matoshree’s CIPACA for their critically-ill patients, they not only offer ICU care at 1/4th of the cost but also prevent patients from going to corporate hospitals in far-away cities, thereby fetching some revenue out of the ICU care provided in the same location,” he added.

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