‘In the next five years, the Rockland group plans to scale up to a total of 10000 beds’

Rajesh Srivastava

Recently, Rockland inau- gurated a new hospital at Manesar. Congratulations. Tell us why you chose Manesar to build this hospital?

There are several reasons for choosing Manesar which is already being recognised as the ‘New Gurgaon’ due its development potential. The development in and around IMT Manesar due to the presence of hundreds of factories and some of the most respected names like Maruti, Honda, Hero Motors, NSG colony, Amity University and several other well known institutes, has shown an impressive growth in the past few years. The current population in a one hour driving distance is estimated to be over 25 lakhs with only clinics and small hospitals. With the private colonisers building over 10 lakh dwelling units and the Government of Haryana’s notified plan of creating 32 lakh additional units, this area needed a healthcare hub of its own. The traffic jams on NH8 makes it very difficult for the commuters from either side to cross over from the Manesar toll booth and then the Hero Honda crossing.

Patients from Manesar and the adjacent areas need better healthcare facilities through a healthcare delivery system that can connect with the clinics, nursing homes and small hospitals. Rockland Manesar will fill this gap by being a model health care delivery centre providing back up to the entire chain of health care delivery through state-of-the-art equipment, diagnostic systems and super specialist doctors. Rockland Manesar will reach out to patients through a network of trained health volunteers, quality certified doctors, nursing homes and small hospitals who can not make large investments in technology and super specialist doctors. In the first phase of its launch, it will connect with 400 clinics, 40 nursing homes and small hospitals. The network partners would include private players as well as the government through a public private partnership (PPP) model.

Dwarka-Manesar Expressway will soon connect Dwarka city and the international and domestic airport with Manesar. Through this expressway, the commuters will reach Manesar in a shorter timeframe than to Gurgaon‘s main areas due to the traffic chaos on the National Highway. Rockland Manesar will serve this additional catchment area and will also be a convenient destination for international patients and domestic patients from other states. Rockland Manesar has created exclusive facilities for the outstation patients by building an ancillary building with a hotel like environment with a swimming pool on the top floor and complete with assisted living facilities and a travel, foreign exchange and visa facilitation desk for the domestic as well as international patients. The International Patients Centre in the ancillary unit will house offices of the international facilitators and will ensure translators back up and food according to the requirement of different nationalities.

What was the cost of building this hospital?

The cost of building the 505-bed hospital and an ancillary unit with assisted living centre and medical tourism centre has been Rs 500 crores.

Tell us about the services available and the reach of this hospital?

Rockland Manesar will have all the basic specialities and super specialities in onco (cancer), neuro, ortho, cardio, gastro, nephrology, urology, ENT and cochlear implant, laproscopic surgery and GI surgery, plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery. Facilities at this hospital include state-of-the-art imaging and lab services.

Tell us about the Rockland health network (RHN)? What is your investment in RHN?

The Rockland Health Network will reach out to patients through a network of trained health volunteers, quality certified doctors, nursing homes and small hospitals. Doctors operating from clinics, nursing homes and small hospitals will be able to link up with the super specialist doctors and equipment for better care of the patients through a 24 x 7 information technology and telecom interface. The first phase investment in the Rockland Health Network has been budgeted at Rs 10 crores which will gradually be increased to over Rs 300 crores in the next five years.

This model will be replicated in phases to cover the entire North India, North East India, SAARC Countries, Middle East, Africa and several other countries. With the launch of Rockland Manesar the group will be able to leverage the entire Rockland Medical Corridor which will now have three multi-speciality hospitals, assisted living facilities and medical tourism centres in Manesar, Dwarka and South Delhi which currently has a bed capacity of 800.

The benefits to the network doctors and small hospitals will be in several forms. A centralised diagnostic team of doctors, for example, can read and interpret the reports generated at far off locations where finding a good radiology doctor may not be easy or could be a very costly affair. This can help reduce wrong diagnosis which can lead to wrong treatment many a times.

The network doctors would be able to update their knowledge through the continuous medical education (CME) programmes of Rockland and can collaborate with super specialist doctors by leveraging their advice on patient treatment.

Tell us about your existing business.

Rockland Hospitals have been engaged in a lot of construction activity at its old hospital in South Delhi and inaugurated its Dwarka unit in June 2012. Rockland Manesar has been inaugurated on January 24, 2013. The year 2012-13, compared to last year, shows a revenue growth of over 50 per cent and the number of patients have doubled up in spite of only a partial addition of revenues from the newly launched Dwarka unit and reduction of beds in the old hospital due to expansion activity. Total monthly inflow of patients for the last 12 months was over a lakh in OPD and IPD services.

Tell us about your expansion plans?

In the next five years the Rockland group plans to scale up to a total of 10000 beds through its own hospitals and in alliance with the network partners. To ensure quality manpower the Rockland Group has already initiated plans for setting up medical colleges attached to its two 505-bed hospitals in Manesar followed by an institute to train para medical staff in Noida.The group is exploring opportunities for further expansion through the PPP route too. An MOU has already been signed with the State of MP to set up a medical college attached to a hospital in Indore. The first phase of expansion will include North and North East India and the second phase of expansion will cover the entire country.

How would you fund this expansion?

All the current projects are already funded and the expansion plans now need funding only for the Rockland Noida project. This project needs a total funding of Rs 500 crores. Equity component will be 40 per cent and debt 60 per cent.

What steps is Rockland taking to make healthcare more affordable?

Affordability in healthcare relates directly with quality of diagnosis and treatment from the primary stage itself. Once the patient is wrongly diagnosed the costs begin to rise and by the time the patient reaches a good hospital treatment becomes a challenge for the doctors as well as the patient and his attendants. Right diagnosis will also filter out patients for primary, secondary and tertiary care and then only patients needing tertiary care would need to come to the metros. This is where the RHN will help the patients by improving the quality of diagnosis and thereby bringing down the cost of treatment. The patients and their attendants will benefit by getting access to the best advice and diagnostic analysis at far off places and those coming to NCR for treatment will have complete arrangements for travel and stay at reasonable costs. The Manesar Hospital has taken special care in building an ancillary block which will house all the travel and hospitality services and has 65 rooms for international and domestic patients.

Do you plan to have an all India presence in future? Which states would you target?

Yes, we do have plans for an all India presence after the completion of our first phase which will cover the North and North East India. Our plans will include all the states however our priority right now are the states of Delhi, Haryana, UP and MP.

Many players in India are tying-up with foreign hospitals or service providers. Do you have any similar plans?

We are keen to establish cooperative relationships with foreign hospitals and medical specialists. Both can benefit by collaborating in the areas of education, training and sharing of research data. Latest and emerging technologies can be introduced in India as it’s an emerging but very large market. Indian doctors are exposed to treating a very large population mix which now has a good mix of patients coming from Africa and the Middle East. Sharing of his data can be of great value as it can open collaborative routes to a very large base outside of India too.

Where do you see Rockland hospital five years from now?

Five years from now the Rockland Hospitals Network would have a minimum of 10000 beds, five lakh health volunteers, 4000 clinics and 400 nursing homes and small hospitals are connected to the five super speciality hospitals in the Rockland Medical Corridor in Delhi NCR. The network would cover the entire North, North East India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Will Rockland be venturing into any other healthcare vertical other than hospitals?

The Rockland network will offer a lot of opportunities for medical equipment manufacturers, pharma companies, diagnostic companies, insurance companies, international patient travel management companies and others to create collaborative models for diverse healthcare verticals. We are open to all possibilities which can help us in taking quality health care to the village levels at affordable costs.

Any last words?

India has the potential to become the medical care hub for the world due to its world class doctors, comfort with technology and a huge low cost advantage compared to the developed economies. The advantages are similar to what we have witnessed in the IT sector. Flying the patients and doctors from some of the developed countries with stay and treatment would still be far more economical for the insurance companies and governments who are finding it a challenge to meet the health care expenses in their own countries. What is needed is a world class healthcare delivery model with the state of the art infrastructure which is already there in Delhi NCR and some other metros. The foreign exchange earning potential in this sector is very high and we are already witnessing an over 100 per cent growth year on year in the incoming international patients. On the other end a good health delivery mechanism can allow the large hospitals to leverage their capabilities to help the doctors in the clinics, small nursing homes and hospitals to reach out up to village levels. This will improve the quality of healthcare at all levels and will generate the necessary volumes for the larger hospitals too, creating a good mix of social and economic sustainability.

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