Holding fort

Fortis turns even more acquisitive as it bets on a chain of super-specialised hospitals.

Healthcare demand waits for no man, and Fortis Healthcare doesn't have a moment to lose. Even as it wrestles with various government departments for the go-ahead for a greenfield hospital in West Delhi's Shalimar Bagh, a project that has already seen a time overrun of over a year, it has wrested management control of Flt Lt Rajan Dhall Hospital in South Delhi's Vasant Kunj.

On an investment of Rs 115 crore, Fortis has turned it into a "super-specialty" tertiary care unit (specialising in heart, renal-care and a few others), with other services too.

It will become part of a hub-and-spoke network that aims to have 4,000 beds overall by 2011 across India, with hubs being the super-specialty units and spokes offering wide spectrum services (while feeding hubs with special cases).

Fortis has over 1,000 beds at the moment, at 12 hospitals, all in north India. It has super-specialty hospitals in Mohali, Noida and Amritsar, and has been aggressively acquisitive in Delhi, having snapped up Escorts, Cradle and Jeevan Mala over the last one year.

Of these, Escorts, India's premier heart hospital, ran into some controversy, but that doesn't ruffle Shivinder Mohan Singh, group managing director. Part of the turf, he shrugs.

Moreover, he has so much more to do. Fortis is busy looking at prospects in Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai. "We are talking to several hospitals, and hope to clinch some deals soon in southern India," says Singh, who wants around 5-6 hubs operating with over 15 spokes in two-three years.

It helps that the Fortis tag is a big draw. "For instance," says Singh, Jessa Ram in central Delhi has seen a volume growth of four times since Fortis took management control, and we have expanded Cradle "" now Fortis La Femme "" from a birthing centre to a complete women's hospital."

The grand plan is to have Fortis recognised as a leading brand of super-specialised healthcare. This is in contrast to the models adopted by rivals Max Healthcare and Apollo, which are setting up upmarket multiservice clinics with general hospitals as hubs.

What makes Fortis so confident of its special strategy?

India's prosperity, mainly. Super-specialty hospitals tend to cater to "lifestyle" ailments, which are on the rise. Of course, with the rich Indian in its sights, it must meet global expectations too: so 64-slice CT scans, flat panel cath labs and the like, even robotic surgery facilities, are important.

If and when India becomes a regional medical hub, flying in patients from overseas for high-quality surgeries at attractive rates, Fortis would be well equipped.

Then there are economies of scale. "We can juggle the facilities available within the Fortis hospital network," says Singh, buoyantly.

Observers may question some of his buoyancy, though, especially since two of Fortis' most talked about projects seem to be undergoing bouts of uncertainty.

"Our decisions are not governed by delays," says Singh, "we shall have a mix of greenfield hospitals and acquisitions, as also management control."

What about Escorts? Its prime mover Naresh Trehan has his heart set on Medicity, a proposed medical hub project in Gurgaon. But Fortis may yet be part of Medicity too.

"We still have to come to an agreement," is all Singh discloses. He doesn't have a moment to lose, but here, patience may pay.