Dr Dharminder Nagar, Managing Director, Paras Healthcare, in an interaction with Prathiba Raju, elucidates on the hospital group’s plans to expand their footprints in tier-II and III cities which have a population of over two million
What are your expansion plans in North India for the current fiscal, particularly in tier-II and tier-III cities? What innovations do you plan to bring in the existing hospitals?
The expansion strategy of Paras Healthcare are in two phases; phase one is from 2015 to 2020 and phase two from 2021 to 2028. By 2020, Paras Healthcare intends to establish tertiary healthcare facilities in other tier-II and III cities in North India. Our aim is to bridge the gap between demand and supply in healthcare. Also, we will target cities with a population of two million plus that also have a medical college. Tertiary care centres will be established, which will focus on oncology, cardiology, orthopedics and neurology. They will further evolve into specialised transplant centres. We are in talks with many government agencies for a chain of cancer institutes and tertiary care centres. Also, we are in talks with private companies which are keen to collaborate in operations and management of hospitals.
While setting up a new unit, Paras Healthcare mainly adheres to its three tenets of healthcare. They are: present accessibility of healthcare in the region, presence of affordable healthcare at the location and last existence of a specialised quality healthcare provider. By providing exceptional medical expertise, infrastructure and technology to the areas that lack the same, we are able to create a healthcare revolution in the rural areas. Paras Patna, Darbhanga, Gurgaon along with Panchkula are some of the examples.
What has been the patient response to Paras Bliss as a centre for specialised mother and child care? Where will the future centres come up?
Paras Bliss, the new chain of specialised mother and child care centres, is our prime focus. The patient response has been very encouraging. Over the past few months, we have been able to provide neonatology care for pre-term babies. We have also been able to perform complex pregnancy surgeries and numerous lap-gynae procedures. The response to tertiary care, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) facilities have been most promising. Through our unique feature of developmental supportive care, we have been able to deliver best care to the infants. Paras Bliss is the only unit to have a neonatal ambulance, providing assistance 24×7. The exceptional response in the patient engagement programmes strengthens our belief that the community needs and is looking forward to patient centric, engaging hospital care units to provide them the right guidance. Our future units will open in North India. The cities under consideration are – Jaipur, Kanpur, Lucknow and Jammu. The aim is to provide specialised maternity and neonatology care in areas where it is deficient. We will expand its foothold in the next five years in six major cities of North India.
As a private player in India’s healthcare industry, what are the pressure points you face during the process of expansion?
The most challenging aspect is to bring specialised medical professional and administration staff in tier-II and tier-III cities, followed by acceptability as an exceptional tertiary care provider by the public.
The acceptance of costs associated with healthcare is also a major challenge. People usually accept spending the same amount in different cities, but they need to understand the advantages of the availability of specialised tertiary care services in their city.
Unprofessional approaches by existing small players is also an important challenge. Moreover, the civic authorities are usually not prepared and one has to run around for various licenses, approvals and sanctions. The government needs to streamline the systems and provide a single window model to all healthcare providers. Also, when all the aspects and factors are clear, the availability of suitable land and cost of real estate proves to be a deterrent.
Paras Patna has been successful in overcoming all major hurdles and it is a well established and recognised healthcare provider with the largest employee base in the organised private healthcare sector of Bihar. Also, we have been successful in bringing medical professional of repute back to their roots and provide state-of-the-art facilities, latest technology to the common man.
How challenging is it for private sector players to operate in the country’s healthcare space. As a private player, how do you balance the needs of the patients and commercial interests of the organisation?
Paras Healthcare is an organisation with a social conscience. Our target and service group is the middle class. If we look at the population set up, India has the largest population of middle class dwellers, with presence in both rural and urban India. Paras Healthcare has been uniquely highlighting and featuring itself as a true partner in health. We ensure in simple structure, building
environment with maximum focus on medical expertise. Paras Healthcare takes a strong stand against non-required superfluous technology. Each technology intervention is decided on the benefit it shall bring to the patients and the medical outcomes. We ensure that no added cost of the extra frills is put on the patient and believes in patient empowerment and support.
Due to robust technology selection, building process management, central buying unit along with exceptional technology aided monitoring system and indicators, we are able to save more and pass on the benefits to our patients.
What is the capex that Paras Healthcare’s looking at in the next three years? How would it be funded?
At present, Paras Healthcare is looking at a balanced debt and equity model. Our earlier units have been internally funded with limited support from nationalised and private banks. However, to realise the future goals of the organisation, we are at present open to equity participation.
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