Wockhardt Hospitals in key geographies transits into Fortis Hospitals

The transition of Wockhardt Hospitals in Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata to Fortis Healthcare network is the largest merger in the Indian healthcare delivery sector. With this transition the new entity named as Fortis Hospitals headed by Mr. Vishal Bali is all set to add significant scale and look at consolidation in the Indian healthcare space.

Addressing a press conference today Mr. Vishal Bali, Chief Executive Officer, Fortis Hospitals Group said “The transaction of the 10 Wockhardt Hospitals into the Fortis Healthcare network has been completed and these hospitals will now be rechristened as Fortis Hospitals. This deal is a landmark in the Indian Healthcare sector and the transition has been accomplished seamlessly”

With the addition of 10 hospitals of Wockhardt, Fortis Healthcare scales up its presence to a network of 39 hospitals and bed capacity from 3278 to 5180. It now extends its reach to 12 cities across the country and adds to its kitty 2 internationally accredited hospitals (Joint Commission International – JCI accreditation) located in Bangalore and Mumbai besides its own one in Mohali. The Fortis network has been strengthened by 3000 people including a team of accomplished clinicians and 15 member senior management team.

With this merger the Fortis Healthcare Network gets further strengthened to provide patient care in super specialty areas of Cardiac care, Neuro Sciences, Orthopedics, Minimal Access Surgery, Renal Sciences and Liver Transplants.

Talking about the growth plans for Fortis Hospitals in Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata Mr. Bali said, “We are looking at significant capacity additions in these three cities which will get completed in 2010”.

Fortis Hospitals will scale up its presence in Bangalore with the upcoming 120 bedded tertiary facility in Peenya which is likely to be commissioned by July 2010. The group has also opened a super specialty out-patient medical centre in Marathalli giving it a much needed foothold in East Bangalore. A hospital in East Bangalore is also being planned.

Mr. Bali also spoke about the significant growth in the Mumbai market with an addition of 300 beds which will happen in two phases. The first phase will see a capacity addition of 150 beds by December 2010. A full-fledged Oncology centre would be part of the phase 1 of the expansion. Apart from this, 2 super specialty out-patient clinics in Mumbai are also on the anvil.

Mr. Bali also spoke about consolidating the Eastern market with the launch of a 414 bedded Super specialty Hospital in Kolkata which will be commissioned in June 2010. With a network of 2 hospitals and 1 day care surgery centre Fortis Hospitals will become a major healthcare provider in Eastern India.

Strengthening India as a Healthcare Hub Fortis Hospitals will front end Tertiary Hospitals across key cities to the Medical value traveler from across the globe. The combined might of the new entity would enable Fortis to consolidate its position in the Medical value travel space. With Delhi, Bangalore, and the Mumbai facilities being front ended a wider choice would be offered to overseas patients across geographies.

“We have made significant progress in our International patient volumes particularly from the developed world. Our current international patient volume is growing by 35% and a major component of this growth is from the US. We have clearly established India as a key destination for the global medical value traveler” said Mr. Vishal Bali.

About Fortis Healthcare Limited

Fortis Healthcare Limited was incorporated in the year 1996 with its first hospital commencing in 2001 at Mohali. It was founded on the vision of creating an integrated healthcare delivery system. Headquartered in New Delhi, Fortis which acquired Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre Limited in September 2005, has operations in Amritsar, Bangalore, Chennai, Faridabad, Jaipur, Kolkatta. Kota, Mauritius, Mohali, Noida,New Delhi, Raipur and Mumbai. With the recent additions of four hospitals in Mauritius, Bangalore, Kota and S.L. Raheja in Mumbai and ten Wockhardt hospitals Fortis is now a network of 39 hospitals with the capacity to increase inpatient beds to 5180 beds. These hospitals include multi specialty hospitals, as well as super-specialty centres providing tertiary and quaternary healthcare to patients in areas such as cardiac care, orthopedics, neurosciences, oncology, renal care, gastroenterology and mother and child care. The hospitals that Fortis operates include a “boutique” hospital for women - Fortis La Femme, its first foray into women’s health and maternity care.

Fortis Hospitals consists of 10 hospitals located in Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata out of which 8 are fully functional and 2 are upcoming projects. The hospital focuses on high end tertiary care around the specialties of cardiac care – adult and pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery, neuro sciences, minimal access surgery and woman care. The entity consists of 2 JCI accredited hospitals located in Bangalore and Mumbai.