US-based Henry Ford Health Systems ties up with Pearl Human Care to mark its foray into India

The not-for-profit corporation to share technical expertise for the new Rs 330 crore hospital

The US-based Henry Ford Health System has forayed into India by signing up technology licensing arrangement with Pearl Human Care Pvt Ltd to set up a hospital near Chennai. The not-for-profit organisation also said it is talking few more people to set up hospitals in other parts of the country.

It has signed a 20 year technology licensing arrangement with Pearl Human Care Pvt Ltd, which was started by G V Sampath, who is the elder son of Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT's) promoter.

Both have joined hands to set up a super specialty hospital in Vellore, about 130 kms from Chennai.

"We have signed up with Henry Ford Health System to provide the technology and best practices for our Naruvi Hospitals to be built in Vellore," Sampath, Chairman and Managing Director, Pearl Human Care told reporters here on Thursday.

The 400-bed super specialty hospital to be set up at a cost of around Rs 330 crore. The hospital expeted to be ready by 2019.

"The outlay will be funded with a mix of debt and equity funds. We are also looking at raising money from PEs," Sampath said. However, he refused to divulge on the details of plans to raise funds from PE.

Henry Ford Health System will be the technology provider while the investment and day-to-day operations of the hospital will be under Pearl Human Care. The technical licensing agreement with Pearl Human Care covers clinical specialty, equipment selection and procurement, patient flow, key case review mechanism, quality control and building design and others. It would also offer telemedicine services to the new hospital. The companies refused to reveal the financial arrangement behind the licensing agreement.

"We are looking at licensing our technologies to existing hospitals in India. We are also in talks with others in India for a licensing tie-ups," Marck Coticchia, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Henry Ford health System said. The Michigan-headquartered Health System has six-hospital system in US.

In the first phase Naruvi Hospitals will have 250 beds and the capacity will be scaled up to 400 beds. The hospital will have 300 medical staff and 1,000 support staff, Sampath said.

Henry Ford Health System would also help the new hospital to have the telemedicine support, to bring in expertise from its US facilities.

Coticchia said that the organisation is looking at tie ups to set up similar agreements for Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru in future, especially with entrepreneurs who do not have exposure into hospital business.

It is also looking at entering into licensing agreement to offer its healthy food recipe, which it follows in its hospitals in US, to Indian customers. It has already tied up with NCR-based Kwality for this and is looking at players in other regions for license agreement. It is also exploring opportunities to bring the recipe as a personalised solution using digital technology, said Amber Malhotra, director-India, Henry Ford Innovation Institute.