Super specialty hospitals chain Fortis Healthcare, after exiting overseas assets almost completely to pare the debt, is now planning to strengthen its domestic foot print through bolt-on model- which will primarily see expansion inside its existing infrastructure facilities. The healthcare verticals of the company comprise hospitals, diagnostic and day care facilities.
The strategy, as part of its India-centric growth initiative, will trigger, on an average, addition of somewhere between 10% and 15% of more beds to its current facilities, per year. In absolute terms the hospital major will be adding 300 to 500 beds per annum. Speaking on the sidelines of the function to mark the milestone of achieving 54 heart transplants in last five years, Bhavdeep Singh, CEO, Fortis Healthcare Ltd said that the company has exited all his overseas ventures, except for one lab in Dubai and focusing on India healthcare operations.
“As part of it, we will be strengthening our existing units and clinical activities such as oncology & liver transplants will be beefed up besides embedding technologies to give to best practices in the healthcare.
We will be entering into robotics by which complicated operations with longer length could be reduced to 20 to 25 minutes. The company will also be looking at strengthening its remote monitoring and tele-medicine activities,” he said. Fortis, claimed to be country’s second largest health care company has reduced its debt from a high of Rs 7,000 crore to close to Rs 1,000 crore. Asked when the company would become a zero debt company, Singh said that it was not in his game to chase the numbers.
“It is not before me now as to how we will become a zero-debt company, what is important is how to manage your debts. Given the options of becoming a best healthcare entity and zero debt, I will opt for becoming the best company in India,” he said.
Fortis had set up 55 hospitals across 15 states in India and started expanding to Singapore, Dubai, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Australia.
On the future plans he said, “At some point we will look at growth opportunities, but I think there is enough to do within the four walls of Fortis.” The company is looking at running a better and leaner organisation while building on the brand equity.
Singh said that the Fortis is mulling over the idea of deploying Drones to help out in the transportation of the heart transplant.