Exit Apollo. Enter Medanta.
Abdur Razzaque Ansari Memorial Weavers' Hospital located at Irba, 17km from the heart of the state capital, is no longer a unit of the Apollo Group with Gurgaon-based Medanta-The Medicity taking over the reins from this month.
Known for nearly 19 years as an Apollo unit, the 200-bed hospital treating over 60,000 patients per year is now called Medanta Abdur Razzaque Ansari Memorial Weavers' Hospital.
Sayeed Ahmed Ansari, founder of the hospital and director (projects), however, told The Telegraph that there had been a change in only name and proprietorship, not caregiving.
"Healthcare facilities will get even better now with dedicated in-house departments for many more ailments," he said, adding that a formal function to announce the new name would be held by the end of this month.
"Dr Naresh Trehan, noted cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgeon and founder of Medanta-The Medicity, will come here this month and then, we will have a formal introductory function. The healthcare facilities have been improved to suit the standard of Medanta and its name," he added.
Add-on healthcare facilities that one can expect at the rechristened hospital now include Medanta breast services, respiratory management, robotic surgeries and paediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and liver transplant.
Prodded about the reasons behind the shift from Apollo to Medanta, Ansari said: "Our agreement with Apollo expired in March this year. But there was yet another major factor that played a part. In our agreement with Apollo, there was a clause that the group cannot come up with another hospital within 100km radius. But you must be aware that Apollo signed an MoU with Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) last year to come up with a hospital here. This specific move disappointed us, so we waited for the agreement to expire to look for another partner."
Sources in the state health department said the Apollo Group was interested in coming up with a hospital on a 2.80-acre plot at Ghaghra near Doranda. "A formal MoU has already been signed between RMC and the group, but the project has been delayed as mayor Asha Lakra is not happy with some points," an official said.
V. Satyanarayana Reddy, CEO of Apollo Hospitals, southern region, received the letter of award from then chief minister Hemant Soren in March 2014 to run the Ghagra hospital on PPP mode.
At the same function, then health minister Rajendra Prasad Singh had said that his government had asked Apollo Group to participate in the global tender process to run the superspeciality building on Ranchi Sadar Hospital premises on PPP mode.
"Medanta chief Dr Trehan was here in March to review the building constructed on sadar hospital premises, but things did not fall into place. Now, Medanta has joined hands with Abdur Razzaque Ansari hospital. On the other hand, chief minister Raghubar Das has announced that the sadar hospital's state-of-the-art wing will be run by the government. So it is difficult to say what is happening and who will finally run the superspeciality unit," said a senior health department official.
