JOIN USNarayana's heart to beat in City
He was speaking at the ground breaking ceremony of the proposed 1,000 beds Narayana Hrudayalaya Health City- heart and super speciality hospital at Devanur on the outskirts of the city.
Shetty said that only 90,000 heart surgeries are being done against the demand for 2.5 million per annum in the nation. Those deprived of operation are eventually embracing death. He emphasised on opening more hospitals for them. However, he stressed on changing the way, the hospitals are built as there is a set picture about the facility.
AC unsafe
“There is an illusion that air-condition is safest for patients. But, it’s also a source of many infections. The only way to address the situation is making provisions for proper ventilation in general wards, and the health city on the anvil vouches for it,” said Shetty.
Citing the example of Bangalore facility, Shetty said ‘of Rs 75 lakh electricity bill paid per month, majority is spent on keeping the ACs on’. The treatment offered by the hospital is on par with US and European countries, but at an affordable cost. The low cost treatment offered here at Rs 1,800 dollars per operation, was a case study at Harward and many other institutions, with the latter being very sceptical.
Most of them had written off mocking-it may be the Indian way of heart surgery.
However, the hospital braved many odds and was accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI), said Shetty.
Infosys co-founder K Dinesh who unveiled the foundation plaque gave a clarion call to the government to make general health insurance mandatory for all, like motor vehicle insurance. He lauded Shetty for his venture, especially that of Yashaswini Health Insurance scheme, that is benefitting many. Only people like Shetty who have a passion to serve people can think of something beneficial to the people in the society.
The project
A joint venture of Narayana Hrudayalaya and I-DECK, the hospital is expected to be a reality in next six to eight months in two phases.
L&T has taken up the construction work and intends to complete the same within the deadline.
In the first phase, 300 beds will be added, with six operation theatres, 25 beds ICU, cath lab, blood bank, CT scan, MRI, dialysis centre and neuro surgeries and organ transplants to perform complex heart surgeries.
Spread over eight cities, the health city in Bangalore has 3,000 beds, 750 in Kolkata, 300 in Jamshedpur and 500 in Hyderabad.
Another 5,000 beds facilitiy in Ahmedabad is in commissioning stage and two new projects are coming up in Siliguri and Bhubaneshwar.
Suttur Seer Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra, vice-chairman of the hospitals Dr Aushuthosh Raghuvamshi, CEO M S Rao, general manager L&T Ranganath, CFO I-DECK Anil Shenoy and architect Sukumar were present.