New initiative to boost neighbourhood hospitals

It’s an effort to save the small neighbourhood hospitals so that people can have access to affordable healthcare.

It’s an effort to save the small neighbourhood hospitals so that people can have access to affordable healthcare.

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Imperia Health Pvt. Ltd., a first of its kind hospitals operations management company, is taking the initiative to upgrade the mid-sized neighbourhood hospitals that are being nearly eaten up by the competition from bigger corporate hospitals.

In a panel discussion organised on Sunday, medical experts talked about the need for saving small hospitals, having a capacity of 50-150 beds.

“Not everyone can afford getting treated at a big private hospital. But this doesn’t mean the poor don’t have the right to quality healthcare. Our aim is to strengthen these small hospitals, who are not able to cope up quality-wise, so that people have an option,” said Ashwajit Singh, chairman and MD, IPE Global, who is a founder of Imperia Health.

To begin with, the company has decided to assist two hospitals — Noida-based Vinayak Hospital and Karnal-based Arpana. “We are not taking away ownership. We will only provide assistance to upgrade them with a better medical team, infrastructure, etc” said Dr Harsh Mahajan, eminent radiologist and a board member of Imperia Health.

The company has experts across departments and can guide in human resource policies to recruit and train staff and structuring finances among other things.

“Heathcare in India is in a transition mode, where neighbourhood physician has been replaced by speciality hospitals. In most cases, people who come to terrtiary care hospitals don’t require super-speciality treatment. We need to change that,” said Dr Naresh Trehan, eminent cardiac surgeon and founder, Medanta- The Medicity.