Wockhardt launches Mumbai tertiary care hospital, next stop at Delhi

Five years after it sold 10 of its hospitals, Wockhardt Hospitals took a significant step by opening a 350-bed hospital in South Mumbai.

At an estimated Rs. 300 crore, the tertiary care hospital bundles major specialities including cardiac and critical care. Two more hospitals are on Wockhardt’s radar in Delhi and another in suburban Mumbai, Habil Khorakiwala, founder Chairman of the Wockhardt Group said.

Funds for this would be raised internally, he said, adding that the Delhi hospital was expected to take another two years to operationalise.

Wockhardt Hospitals had in 2009 sold 10 of its hospitals to Fortis Healthcare for over Rs. 900 crore, leaving the Mumbai-based group with about seven hospitals. The sale was to help retire Wockhardt Hospitals’ debt. In fact, the company was one of the first casualties of the economic meltdown in early 2008, when its plans to raise funds were felled by a volatile stockmarket.

Hart times

In fact, hard times followed the Group, as its pharmaceutical business got saddled with Rs. 3,400 crore debt burden in 2008. But after several business sell-offs and corporate restructuring measures, Wockhardt Pharmaceuticals emerged from the woods.

The company, however, is presently dealing with intense U.S. regulatory scrutiny on three of its plants.

Against this backdrop, the unveiling of Wockhardt Hospitals plans for the future signal an interesting and healthy development. And so does the involvement of the promoter-family’s next generation in the business.

Next-gen

Wockhardt’s hospital network also marks the presence of the next generation of the Khorakiwala family. The Chairman’s daughter Zahabiya Khorakiwala is the Managing Director and “principal actor” of Wockhardt Hospitals. Having been at the helm for over four years, she outlined features in the new hospital that were a first, including bar-coding the distribution and use of medicines to help reduce errors and keep a track on medicine use at all times.

The Chairman’s sons are also in the group – Murtaza heads Wockhardt Pharmaceuticals as Managing Director and Huzaifa is Executive Director.

Free beds

Responding to a query on pricing, Habil Khorakiwala said that the new multi-speciality hospital has a long term agreement with the Adams Wyline Memorial Hospital Trust, the original lessee of the land. And as part of that about 30 beds would be free for people from lower sections of society who ware unable to pay.