After seven years of providing ?affordable healthcare? to the ailing on the neglected flank of the Hooghly, and having steadied a rocking boat with a little help from friends, Westbank Hospital is in expansion mode.

?We have identified a three-acre plot off Andul Road, close to Vidyasagar Setu, where we plan to set up a 400 to 450-bed multispeciality-grade hospital, with provisions for some superspeciality areas as well, as an extension of our existing facility,? Aloke Mookherjea, vice-chairman of the board of directors, Westbank Hospital, told Metro.

The management of the Howrah hospital met chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee recently to discuss the Rs 50-crore project that promises to be another significant value addition for the people of the district, and Westbank has pledged to carry forward its credo of ?best possible treatment at least possible cost? to the new wing, to be located four km from the existing hospital.

?We plan to roll out the upcoming project in two phases. In the first phase, we will set up a radiotherapy unit to complement our cancer-care services, besides a comprehensive rehab centre.

The second phase will introduce a cardiac intervention and cardiac surgery facility, which will by far complete our bouquet of services,? said Rana Mukherjee, consultant surgeon and clinical director of Westbank.

Set up by a band of 23 doctors who had left behind promising practices abroad to return to their roots, Westbank Hospital has been able to retain most of them through a shared philosophy based on ?transparency and trust?, offering patients a complete plan of treatment and giving them the choice to decide.

?Even though some of our expensively-assembled equipment and facilities might lie underutilised at times, we haven?t deviated from our core focus of reaching quality healthcare to the masses, and have managed to balance the medical and commercial aspects fairly efficiently by simply doing the basics right,? the clinical director pointed out.

Kicking off with just 25 beds, Westbank has weathered a mid-stream financial crisis ? with support from current chairman, Sweden-based NRI Bicky Chakraborty ? and has now grown to a 150-bed centre, with a clutch of specialities added on the way.

?From complicated pancreatic surgery to neurosurgery to complex cancer surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery ? we are now equipped to handle everything, except heart surgery, a gap the new wing will plug,? said Partha Pratim Sen, laparoscopic, breast and gastrointestinal cancer surgeon at Westbank.

The Howrah hospital is also ?one of the only two places in the state? which does foetal anomaly scans, augmented by a neo-natal intensive care unit.

?We are also the only hospital offering a same-day screening package for holistic management of diabetes, an important platform from which, we have been able to launch next-generation services like treatment and monitoring of pregnant diabetics,? declared Sanjay K. Shah, head of the diabetes and thyroid centre at the hospital.

At its new facility, Westbank plans to further sophisticate its resources to handle poly-trauma situations and post-surgical trauma.

?We already have a very unique system that enables us to stitch together an entire team of primary physicians and specialists at extremely short notice. This system can be further fine-tuned with more space and specialities,? felt clinical director Mukherjee.