A large number of patients from Bengal conventionally head to south India for treatment. However, the trend should now gradually shift as major healthcare groups invest here and facilities improve, said a healthcare veteran from Bangalore.
“It puzzled us when we saw a large number of patients from Bengal coming to the south. First, they would go to Vellore (Christian Medical College), then to Bangalore,” said H. Sudarshan Ballal, chairman, Manipal Health Enterprise Pvt Ltd. “It seems they had more faith in the south.”
Ballal was in Calcutta on Friday to launch Manipal Hospitals’ nephrology and urology institute across all its hospitals in the city.
“I feel the number of patients from Bengal going to the south will reduce as big healthcare groups are now present here,” said Ballal.
“...the facilities have improved, and the approach of hospitals — prioritising patients over everything — will help. Manipal group’s patient-first programme will definitely give more comfort and confidence to patients,” said Ballal. “There could still be patients going to Vellore, (Tamil Nadu), and Karnataka, but that will be because the number of patients has increased.”
Ballal said 30 years back, in Bangalore, there were six nephrologists and eight dialysis units. “Now there are 200 nephrologists and an equal number of dialysis units. All these 200 dialysis units are occupied,” he said.
This newspaper had several times reported about the outflow of patients from Bengal to other states, despite the improvement in healthcare facilities in the state.
Experts have pointed out that the biggest challenge for the state government is ensuring access to healthcare.
Expansion
Speaking about Manipal group’s plans, Ballal said there had been an “exponential growth” post-Covid pandemic. “The growth has been more than 200 per cent in the last five years. We have made several acquisitions,” he said.
In Calcutta, the Bangalore-headquartered group acquired three units of AMRI, Medica Superspecialty Hospital and Columbia Asia’s Salt Lake unit.
Manipal Hospitals recently acquired Sahyadri Hospitals for around ₹6,400 crore. The acquisition added 11 hospitals across Maharashtra for Manipal and increasing their total bed count to approximately 12,000 nationwide.
“We have three greenfield hospitals in Bangalore. The first one has already been commissioned, and the second one will be operational soon. The third hospital is expected to be commissioned next year,” said Ballal.