Five years after selling over half of its hospitals to Fortis, privately held chain of tertiary care centres Wockhardt Hospitals is back on the expansion mode. It launched its 350-bed hospital in South Mumbai on Thursday by investing Rs 350 crore ($59 million), as per a company release.
The multi-specialty hospital hosts two specialties—
Wockhardt Heart Institute and Wockhardt Critical Care Institute. This adds to its existing network of eight units with 1,600 beds spread across Goa, Nagpur, Nasik, Rajkot, Surat and Mumbai.
It has entered into a strategic alliance with Partners Medical International (PMI) of the US, earlier known as Harvard Medical International (HMI), which provides professional and technical advice and help to deliver healthcare of global standards in the country.
Talking about the new hospital, Habil Khorakiwala, founder chairman, Wockhardt Group, said, “We realised that Mumbai has a serious requirement for emergency services. Our new facility is an answer to this unaddressed gap.”
It is planning to strengthen its footprint in India and will be setting up another 350-bed hospital in Delhi in two years.
Talking about future expansion plans, Khorakiwala said, “This facility would be the same as that of Mumbai and will be a multi-specialty hospital with an investment of Rs 350 crore.”
It would also be looking to set up hospital in tier II cities in the long run and would be looking at geographies like Maharashtra and Gujarat.
In 2009, Wockhardt Hospitals had sold 10 of its 17 hospitals to Fortis to repay debt.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
