Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Charudutt Apte, chairman, Sahyadri Hospitals, said Sahyadri would prefer to hire local medical practitioners. “There would be at least 350 doctors working full-time, part-time or utilising our facilities,” said Apte. He said general practitioners are not in a position to buy expensive equipment or expand their facilities. “This is a chance for them to use our equipment and work with us,” he added.

The six new hospitals lined up in Pune are at Bibewadi, Hadapsar, Bopodi, Shankarsheth Road, Fatima Nagar and Kasba Peth. “The Bibewadi and Hadapsar facilities, that are about 40,000 sq feet each, will start functioning within a week. Sahyadri has taken over Surya Hospital in Kasba Peth, which will be renovated in six months along with an updated burns unit. We have also taken over Munot Hospital on Shankarsheth Road, which will be a 40-bed facility. A 20,000 sq ft hospital at Fatima Nagar is also planned and will start functioning within a year,” said Apte. Sahyadri Hospitals Ltd has also started a 110-bed facility in public-private-partnership on build, operate and transfer basis with Pune Municipal Corporation at Bopodi.

“All these hospitals will be seamlessly linked to the Sahyadri Multi-specialty Hospital on Karve Road. We have decided to start these facilities considering the need of smaller, but good hospitals in the city that can internally refer and transfer a patient to a multi-specialty hospital in serious cases,” Apte said.

The other four hospitals in Maharashtra planned by Sahyadri are at Karad, Nerul, Nashik and Konkan. All of these will be the hubs in the respective regions, and other secondary care centres will be launched in the coming years, said Apte. “Sahyadri has taken over Terana hospital in Nerul opposite Nerul railway station, which will be a 500-bed facility operational from July. The ones in Nashik and Karad will be partly operational by July. The one in Konkan will be at Khed on Bombay-Goa highway,” he added. “The total investment is around Rs 250 crore,” said Apte.

Intra-operative CT scanner system installed

IN another development, Sahyadri Specialty Hospital, Karve Road has become the first hospital in the country to get the intra-operative CT scanner system, which is portable, convenient for patients and cost-effective.

“The biggest convenience is that there is no need to move the patient to this machine. It takes at least an hour and a half to shift a patient from ICU to the machine will all the monitors. However, the portable machine can be brought to the patient instead, drastically reducing the time and risk,” Apte said.

The machine also gives excellent quality images at 1/15 th of the radiation levels as compared to a routine X-ray machine. The machine has a supercomputer and an infrared camera enhances neuro-surgeries on real-time basis. “The machine that costs Rs two crore, greatly helps in neuro-surgeries, implants and spinal cord surgeries that require accurate measurements and positioning,” said Dr Manish Sabnis, senior resident neuro-surgeon, Sahyadri Specialty Hospital.