JOIN USFortis on expansion mode, to spend about Rs 200 cr
After the Rs 909 crore deal, which saw the group buying 13 of 17 Wockhardt facilities, hospitals were co-branded as Fortis-Wockhardt. “Now the transition is over and we are branding them as Fortis,” Fortis Hospitals Chief Executive Officer Vishal Bali. The transition was painless as all 3,800 employees have been retained in the company. “The biggest challenge was to retain the goodwill and culture of Wockhardt hospitals built over twenty years, while bringing the facilities under Fortis fold,” Bali said. The Wockhardt Hospital on Cunningham Road, Bangalore was the first in the group.
After the acquisition, Fortis is now on an expansion mode. Of the two hospitals in Mumbai, at Kalyan and in Mulund, the latter is being expanded from present 260-bed to 510 by adding a new block with a 350-bed facility. It will also have a new Oncology centre.
The Fortis, on Cunningham Road Bangalore, is being fully refurbished to give it a completely new look at cost of Rs 16 crore. It will also have a new operation theatre and a new cath lab. At the Banerghatta road Fortis, which is a newly built super facility hospital, the company may add a new tower with another 250-bed facility. “We have space available for the expansion. The cost will be around Rs 85 crore as and when we decide to expand,” Bali said. The Fortis at Seshadripuram will have a special focus on nephrology and urology.
Biggest project
The biggest new project of Fortis Hospital is coming up in Kolkata, where there is already one Fortis hospital, in the form of new hospital on the eastern bypass. The 400-bed hospital will have facilities for critical care, cardiac, neurology, orthopedic facilities. All added up, Fortis will be spending close to Rs 200 crore on expansion in the next three to four years, Bali said.