“Deepak Venugopal, Director, N.M. Virani Wockhardt Hospital, Rajkot, tells us about the challenges in setting up the super-speciality facility and what lies ahead for the region.”

Q. What are the challenges you faced whilst setting up this facility jointly with the Ashok Gondhia Memorial Trust?

The primary challenges were two. The first was to renovate a 20 year old building to Wockhardt standards and the second, to migrate from a Secondary Level care setting to Tertiary Level care setting.

Another challenge we faced was that the project was rolled out whilst the old hospital continued to operate. This was possible because of skilled management and efficiency of the entire team. So effectively, we never refused patients.

Q Please tell us the nature of the relationship between Wockhardt  and the charitable trust?

Wockhardt Hospitals and the  Ashok Gondhia Memorial Trust have a long term management agreement, where Wockhardt has invested in technology and manpower.

The Trust will continue supporting the charity out of the revenue shared with them by Wockhardt. This will help bring in world class tertiary level care to the reach of people who cannot afford it.

Q Do you think India’s 2 and 3 tier cities are ready with the supporting infrastructure for projects such as this one?

Definitely yes, there are only four five metros in the country. In the coming years, India will grow through these 2 and 3 tier cities. The populations here have high purchasing power. This, combined with the very poor existing health care infrastructure, makes them an ideal destination to set up projects such as this one. The need for branded health care is well recognised and accepted in 2 and 3 tier cities. That our experience at Bhavnagar and Rajkot has been no different bears testimony to this fact.

There are only 4-5 metros in the country. In the coming years, India will grow through II & III tier cities. The population in these places has high purchasing power.

Q As a user of HIS solutions, what are your expectations from the vendors of these products?

Our primary needs as users of advanced Hospital Information Systems (HIS) are a high degree of integration and the ability to adapt to the latest developments in technology quickly. Thus, speed and flexibility are our primary expectations from HIS vendors.

Q. With reference to the Rajkot facility, what (if any) are the plans for expansion in terms of infrastructure and also projects?

We are looking at creating a pan Gujarat presence. In keeping with this, we have already created capacities in the cities of Surat and Bhavnagar.  Now, we are looking at establishing a presence in Bhuj by July 2008. We have also planned to set up hospitals in Baroda and Ahmedabad in a very short period.

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