JOIN USCloudnine goes for pan-India reach
Bengaluru-based Cloudnine Hospitals has plans to set up new units in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and NCR.
Dr Kishore Kumar, chairman and MD of the hospital, told Deccan Herald that till last year they had units only in Bengaluru, and that now they have established flagship units in Chennai, Gurgaon, Pune, and Mumbai. Cloudnine Hospitals started in 2007, with the first unit coming up at Jayanagar in Bengaluru.
Dr Kishore says, “Our units are capital expenditure (capex) intensive and we are in the process of raising in excess of Rs 300 crore to fund our expansion plans. We have 11 facilities in Bengaluru, and one each in Chennai, Gurgaon, Pune, and Mumbai. By the end of this year, we are on line to add one more unit each in Bengaluru and Pune.”
Talking about the challenges the hospital had faced while opening new units, Dr Kishore says, “Initially, funding was very hard to come by as we had exhausted all our resources and there was no support from banks, investors, and others as we were attempting something for the first time in the country and everyone wanted to wait and watch. Having crossed that hurdle, and having attracted large amount of attention through the investor community, challenges remain in the ease of setting up our operations across different cities.”
When asked whether Cloudnine is looking for funding, the chairman said the company would make a formal announcement soon after closure of the present fund-raising. “There has been a tremendous response from the investor community, and we cannot divulge more information at this time.”
No premium for C-section
On an average, the hospitals see around 600 deliveries a month at its Bengaluru centres. “With new units having started across the country, we should be able to achieve 1,000 deliveries every month and more than double the current number by the end of this year,” he said.
While C-sections have become common these days, Dr Kishore says in the past the difference between C-section and normal delivery was the huge price involved, and the length of stay. “From the beginning, we have always maintained the pricing and duration of stay similar to the normal delivery. This is not easy as from insurance companies to medical communities, all are used to a five-day recovery for C-section. Even now in major cities like Mumbai, pricing of C-section is at least 60 to 70 per cent more. It requires a massive change in the mindset,” he said. He added, “Important metrics such as mortality and morbidity rates, infection rates, relapse, and infant survival rates, among others, are the ones that need to be focused upon.”