Apollo Hospitals inks JV to run hospital in Yemen

Apollo Hospitals, in an effort to gain foothold in the Middle-East, has tied up with Hayel Saeed Anam (HSA) group of companies for providing technical and medical advisory to a $ 40-million hospital project in Yemen.

"The feasibility study for a 120 bed multi-speciality hospital is currently underway and the work will start soon. We expect the facility to be in operational by mid-2005," Walid Mohammad Albakili, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals said.

"At present, the project size is restricted to 120 beds and once it gets operational, we shall expand the facility to 170 beds," he added. The local associate of the project in Yemen is Al-Khalid Medical Corporation and will provide Apollo Hospitals and HSA Group with feedback on the market and other local assistance.

"At present, Yemen lacks a strong medical infrastructure. Even with around 400 small hospitals, the tertiary healthcare needs of the people are not met. There is a huge potential for private hospitals like us to form joint venture and cater to the local needs," Prathap C Reddy, chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group said.

Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals sources said that the group is also in talks with Ministry of Interior, Yemen to manage a 200-bed hospital which will specialise in oncology. A separate telemedicine hospital project for $60,000 is also being considered, however, nothing has been finalised, the source said.

This is not the first venture of Apollo Hospitals in the Middle-East. In 2003, the hospital in a joint venture with Belhoul Group, set up a Dhr 120 million super-speciality hospital in Dubai.

Apollo Hospitals is also eyeing a greater number of patients from Yemen and has two enquiry offices in the country which had been directing patients to India.

The number of patients from Yemen who come to Apollo Hospitals for treatment is about 10 per month and the hospital hopes a threefold increase in next two months.

"Yemeni patients, who come to India for treatment, face a lot of problems with traveling as the flight frequency from Yemen to Mumbai is less and the connectivity to other cities where Apollo Hospitals are located is nil. This is a major deterrent. But, we aim to get more patients with talks of increased number of flights," Dr Albakili said.

The hospital has similar operational services tie-up with the Lagos-based Hygeia Nigeria and is planning to expand through its projects in Mauritius, Ghana, Kuwait, Malayasia, Nepal and telemedicine facilities in Kazakhstan, Sudan and Ethiopia.