People International Hospital, Bhopal

This is Bhopal's first corporate hospital

Location: At By Pass Road BhanPur, next to the People Medical College Hospital, Bhopal.

When did construction start: April 2009.

Time of commissioning: December, 2010.

Total area of the land: 10 acres.

Total square feet area of the hospital: 3,60,000 square feet.

Promoters: Funded by The People Group, which is one of the emerging groups in Bhopal with 21 institutions in and around the city. Singapore-based Kinder Group would build, operate and manage the project. Kinder Group has also taken over the management of 1,000-bed medical college of the same group, located in the vicinity.

Total number of beds: 400.

Number of beds to be commissioned in first phase: 260.

Budget: Rs 200 crore.

Project Consultant: Kinder Group, Singapore.

Corporate or trust hospital: Corporate.

Type of hospital: Multi-specialty hospital. Says Praveen Kumar A, CEO, Kinder Medical Services (P) Limited, India, "There are two distinct towers for the hospital. One tower will be of Women and Children Hospital and IVF centre (Monash IVF centre) and the other tower will cater to services of all the super-speciality services. The medical college next to the super speciality hospital will be one of the reference centres for all the super speciality divisions. The People International Hospital will not have any general speciality. These services will be catered from medical college hospital." The centre will also promote holistic medicine.

About architecture: The design is made by the Singapore architect. The design is in such a way that all the supportive services are easily accessible and well connected to the two towers. The staff movement through lifts and other areas will be limited and the supportive services will cater in one floor.

"The design of the hospital will ensure 100 per cent infection control free environment. First time we are experimenting with the escalators also in the hospital. The standards maintained in the hospital are absolutely matching to the international standards. The interior will be in such a way that even minute things will be considered starting from the gate parking area etc. The entry and exit are well differentiated for OP and IP," informs Kumar.

Reason for choosing Bhopal: Bhopal is a city which is not tapped by major players. "The development of the city is very fast and change from 'Babu's city' to the modern new Bhopal is something amazing. The lake city is famous for its tourist spots and there are chances for promoting health tourism also for an international hospital. The paying patients' numbers are also increasing. The important aspect is that the hospital would attract people from the central part of India, who are otherwise going for treatment in Mumbai and Delhi," says Kumar.

"The hospital would attract people from the central part of India, who are otherwise going for treatment in Mumbai and Delhi" - Praveen Kumar A CEO Kinder Medical Services (P) Limited India

Other projects of Kinder group: "Discussions are going on various projects in different part of North India. Will be coming out with a master plan by Feb 2010," says Kumar.

About technology that is latest in the area: The People Medical College hospital is already having a 40 slice cardiac CT machine. The main strength of the super-speciality hospital will be its diagnostic services, which would offer MRI-3 Tesla with spectroscopy, 40 slice cardiac CT scan, DSA, digital X-Ray, ultra sonography with Colour Doppler, mammography, portable ultrasound, nuclear medicine and PET. Clinical Pathology would offer haematology, microbiology, biochemistry, cytology and histopathology.

Environment-friendly measures: The sprawling 345-acre campus is full of greenery and garden and plenty of play areas. The interior of the hospital is also designed in an eco-friendly manner. The Singapore standards are adopted for interior decoration.

Use of IT: The IT department of the group is one of the best departments and around 30 employees are working full-time in the department. The team capable of developing its own software and presently the medical college is running with the in house software developed by its own promising IT team. The new hospital will have paperless record system and will be well connected with the foreign hospital in terms of diagnostic services and other technical aspects.

Vision and mission: Affordable hospital that reaches to the people in Central India.

USP of the project: Doctors trained from abroad as well as foreign standards in operations management.

Centrally air-conditioned: Yes.

Number of clinicians and non-clinicians to be hired: 100 clinicians and 200 non-clinicians.

Ways to market it: International tie ups and media.

Future plans of the hospital and both the groups: Similar projects have been planned in different two tier cities of India as well as in Qatar and Bangladesh.

rita.dutta@expressindia.com