In sync with its aim of achieving a 1000-bed hospital status by the end of 2010, Sterling Hospitals, owned and managed by Sterling AddLife India Ltd, is planning to invest Rs 150 crore to expand its presence in Gujarat. The chain of corporate hospitals is planning to open centres in Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Vadodara, in various stages of completion, according to Rajiv Sharma, chief executive officer, Sterling Addlife India Limited.
Currently, Sterling has multi-specialty tertiary care hospitals in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Mundra, two satellite centers in Kalol and Mehsana. Sterling has entered into an 'owned & managed' (O&M) agreement with a city-based renowned builder to develop a facility adjacent to its existing set up at Vadodara. This 100 bed facility, once ready, will help Sterling Hospital, Vadodara boost its capacity to 210 beds, making it one of the largest super specialty hospitals in Vadodara.
"The o&m agreement based expansion, which will help expand capacity and grow top line without significantly increasing its asset base. We are already running a hospital at Mundra under O&M agreement and would be actively looking at expanding through this model in future. We are planning to have more hospitals in Surat and two other important cities in the near future. While our Rajkot hospital is ready to start soon, the Bhavnagar hospital is under construction. The new facility at Vadodara will be completed by the end of 2010 and should be fully operational by 2011. Overall, we have made an investment of Rs 150 crore for the upcoming projects," Sharma said.