Wockhardt to extend cardiac expertise through telemedicine in Karnataka

Wockhardt Hospitals Limited, which brought its international expertise in cardiac care to Hyderabad to form the Kamineni Wockhardt Hospitals, now plans to extend its services to other districts in the state through telemedicine.

Kamineni Hospitals Limited and Wockhardt Hospitals Limited earlier entered into a joint venture to share infrastructure and expertise and commenced operations in July 2005.

Speaking to Business Standard, Vishal Bali, vice-president (operations), Wockhardt Hospitals Limited, said, "Wockhardt Hospitals has been in the field of cardiac care for the past 16 years. We are a tertiary healthcare service provider and have no plans to enter either the secondary or primary health sector. We intend to extend our expertise in cardiac care to secondary health service providers through telemedicine, as we have done in Karnataka." The hospital is connected to a network of seven hospitals in Karnataka.

"Our tie-up with Harvard Medical International has put us in good stead. Wockhardt has emerged not only as a treating destination for patients even from outside India but also as a platform to train personnel in cardiac care at our centres," Bali said. Harvard Medical International, a subsidiary of Harvard University, draws upon the resources of Harvard Medical School.

"We also intend to tie up with educational institutions so as to expose the students to tertiary cardiac care," he added.

Kamineni Wockhardt Hospital at present is a 150-bedded hospital with the Wockhardt Heart Centre located at Kamineni Hospital catering to 80 beds.

"We plan to raise the total number of beds at the two centres to 350 beds in the coming months," Rajendra Sharma, regional head, Kamineni Wockhardt Hospitals, said.

Speaking about the group's expansion plans, Bali said that a vision to invest Rs 500-700 crore in the coming three to four years was envisaged.

Wockhardt acquired a hospital in Nagpur last year to establish the Wockhardt Heart Hospital and a greenfield multi-speciality project is in the pipeline in Bangalore in addition to an existing heart hospital. With Hyderabad, Wockhardt's presence is now spread across five cities, including Bangalore, Kolkata, Nagpur and Delhi.