NAGPUR: As space within the city shrinks and land gets costlier, hospitals are moving away from the congested central Nagpur areas of Dhantoli and Ramdaspeth.
This is not the only reason for new hospitals coming up in outskirts. Second reason is the ever increasing influx of patients from
Chhattisgarh
, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana to the city that calls for creation of bigger premises. Another factor is the shift towards multi-speciality hospitals having all diagnostics under one roof. This requires more space.
As of now, four big hospitals are nearing launch. National
Cancer
Institute (NCI) with 470 beds, being set up by private trust Aabaji Thatte Seva Aur Anusandhan Sanstha (ABTSAS), is situated near Jamtha Stadium. Health Care Global-Nagpur Cancer Hospital and Research Institute (HCG-NCHRI) having 125 beds is coming up on Kamptee Road and Alexis Multispecialty Hospital Pvt Ltd (AHPL) with 200 beds is on Koradi Road. The Suraj Eye Institute (SEI) is proposed in Mihan, opposite AIIMS and IIM.
“Since we were coming up with the concept of a ‘complete hospital’ with maximum possible super specialties, feasibility of the project was the only criterion we considered. Market research by a third party projected that we will have no problems in getting patients and break even at our location. Luckily the owners Zulekha Health Care Group Dubai owned by Dr Zulekha Iqbal Daud, originally a Nagpurian, had ancestral land,” said Suraj Tripathi, director operations of AHPL.
Tripathi said the over Rs200 crore plus AHPL was coming up with Centres of Excellence in almost all its specialties including a complete radiation therapy unit for treatment of cancer along with all diagnostics and adequate parking facilities.
NCI is coming up on 23 acres of land and was conceptualized as a national level facility. ABTSAS secretary Shailesh Joglekar stated radiation therapy will be first to start in the beginning of 2017 while comprehensive cancer diagnostics and treatment were expected to start by May 2018.
Without revealing the cost involved, Joglekar said, “We studied the prospects while planning. Distance is a factor now but we would be starting shuttle services from bus stand, railway station and from our Dharampeth hospital. Once the metro project gets going, patients can take auto services from Khapri, the last metro station or our shuttles. Since a majority of our patients will be from outside the city, distance will not be a factor. NCI will be an affordable facility for all classes.”
Spread over 2.5 acres HCG-NCHRI is a Rs 120 crore project with 125-bed comprehensive cancer diagnostics and treatment facility. “I obtained the land through competitive e-bidding with international competitors. The land alone cost me Rs11 crore. I have tied up with HCG and formed a company for their expertise in running the different specialties in cancer under one roof,” said Dr Ajay Mehta of the NCHRI.
Planned on 4 acres, SEI aims at education and training apart from treatment. Institute director Dr Vinay Nangia said moving out of city would increase their community outreach to poor patients. “Though our land is in Mihan area, it is out of SEZ and hence it came relatively cheap. I feel being away from the city will make us more efficient as we will be able to include every super specialty within ophthalmology or eyecare,” he said.
Swami Vivekanand Medical Mission which already has a hospital with 55 beds on Wardha road near Khapri, started a hospital with 20 beds a few days back on Koradi road, about 17km from city. Dr Dilip Gupta, chairman of the mission said the hospital aimed to serve the rural population. “Our hospital is set up out of compassion. Land and building have been provided by Mahagenco. We will run it at minimal cost for charity. We will pay doctors and other staff out of donations. The hospital at present has obstetrics, gynaecology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, paediatrics and medicine departments,” he said.
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