An air conditioned hospital room is now de rigueur in most private hospitals with any hospital worth its name preferring to be centrally-air conditioned But, this means a costlier healthcare service. A hospital minus these frills would help cut cost of healthcare to the end-consumer.
That’s the model Dr Devi Shetty is trying to take to the smaller cities. Dr Devi Shetty famous for his ‘heart factory’ as called by some international journals, is now setting up low-cost hospitals to reach the maximum number of people.
The chain will cut the cost of building them, a senior level source said, “The building will depend on more of natural light and air. Also, it will be of just one floor.”
These hospitals will provide all major specialisations, added the source. In the pipeline are hospitals in Mysore, Shimoga, Sillguri and Bhubaneswar. As of now, Mysore hospital is in its finishing stages. The hospital has begun to offer outpatient services. It is waiting for the Union Health Minister to give a date when he would come and inaugurate it. Meanwhile, work has begun on the Shimoga facility too. The hospitals will have about 200-300 beds and is expected to cost Rs 30 crore each to build.
As of now, on average Narayana Hrudayalaya spends $1,500 on each patient. The hospital group believes it can bring it down to just $800 to take care of a patient with the model.
The building for these hospitals will be built using pre-fabricated materials. This is expected to cut the cost and time on building them, taking six to eight months. The group has tied up with L&T to implement the project.