Metropolis Health merges arms with itself

Metropolis Health Services (MHS), a leader in the diagnostic services segment in the country, has merged two of its independent entities "� Thrissur-based Sudharma Metropolis and Kochi-based E&I Metropolis "� with itself.

With this, MHS has become the largest player in diagnostic services in Kerala.

The merged entity has been christened Metropolis Health Services (Kerala) Ltd. The diagnostics major is also planning to launch its popular Home Health Services in Thrissur, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad and Kozhikode this year.

Sudharma Metropolis' 10,000 sft premises in Thrissur and E&I's 5,000 sft laboratory in Kochi will from now on form the combined facility for Metropolis Health Services to serve a larger base of people from the state, company officials said.

According to Sushil Shah, MHS chairman, "Kerala has always been one of the most important centres for Metropolis. One of our first acquisitions was Sudharma in Kerala when we set out on our all-India plans. In order to upscale activities here, we acquired equity in E&I, one of the best in Kerala. And, now bringing Sudharma Metropolis and E&I under a single roof makes us the biggest player in Kerala."

Post-merger, Thrissur would act as a hub for the state in the area of surgical pathology testing, while Kochi would be the hub in the clinical pathology segment, G S K Velu, managing director, MHS, said.

MHS, which posted Rs 75 crore revenue for the fiscal ended March 31, 2006, expects to boost the earnings to Rs 150 crore in the current fiscal.

At present, it has a comprehensive network in Kerala through 20 collection centres and franchisees located in almost all the major towns in the state.

MHS has cemented its presence in Kerala in a major way by signing agreements with Credence Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram and Wellcare Hospital in Palakkad in the state for extending lab management services.

According to company officials, MHS is at present a preferred partner for more than 4,000 organisations, 3,000 labs and institutions across 125 cities and 20,000 doctors across the country.