Madurai’s MMHRC to be 2,500 bed healthcare chain by 2020

The 1000-bed hospital has 44 specialities to serve its patients who flock from near and far off places. Given the emphasis on affordability, MMHRC continuously looks at cost-control measures through innovative ways. One such effort has helped it to halve the per bed cost (to Rs 50 lakh) at Thanjavur, where it has established a 250-bed hospital. This multi-speciality private hospital, the first such in that temple town, was inaugurated by the late CM J Jayalalithaa, in 2013. 

Dr S Gurushankar, Chairman, MMHRC, shared some of his strategies to drive growth and expansion which includes entering Chennai through its greenfield 500-bed hospital project in a prime location. “We have paid the advance and are working to make the project live in three years,” he says, adding a higher FSI (floor space index) for hospitals like the IT industry would benefit all stakeholders. 

Understanding the healthcare “business” comes through the willingness to undergo programmes that will give the next-generation administrator an edge over competition. For instance, in Thanjavur, he has used a cost-saving model that he picked up at Harvard, based on an idea of optimising space utilisation. 

“We observed the flow of movement of patients and identified areas where more efficiencies can be brought about. We implemented the idea after I watched and understood a similar restaurant case study of space utilisation. By doing this, we were able to bring our cost down by 50 per cent from Rs 1 crore per bed, the typical per bed cost for healthcare operators, excluding the land value,” says Gurushankar. 

Incidentally, it is this experiment that has given him ability to replicate a similar cost-saving exercise in Chennai where the cost of land is exorbitant in prime locations. 

MMHRC is pursuing growth and expansion plans vigorously and confident on its current unique model of operation, it is also looking at opportunities to spread its wing overseas. Such a move would position it alongside other big players such as Apollo Hospitals, Aster DM Healthcare, KIMS, Columbia Asia Hospital and Narayana Hrudayalaya to cite a few examples. “We are exploring the GCC or the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and in five years, we expect this aspirational vision to materialise,” Dr Gurushankar said. 

The Overseas Direct Investment is far more lucrative than trying to expand in the country, he said, adding his endeavour is to be a strong 

domestic player. The confidence derived by him about his model is owing to the fact his team of 300-odd doctors are engaged with MMHRC on a full-time basis. 

Also, instead of confining itself as a “rural” player, MMHRC is keen on tapping the middle class and the high-middle class segment of the society, which is the rationale of foraying into Chennai. By 2020, the chain has a projection of achieving a bed capacity of 2,500, from its current strength of 1,250-beds (exclusive of the upcoming 500-bed greenfield venture). 

MMHRC has also the distinction of operating a hospice within the facility, where the youngest patient from Tirupati is  a 16-year-old. Some of the young medical professionals get the exposure of working in such a unique facility. “Though it is not easy getting hospice specialists, we do not engage them only for this role. The people also get to participate in surgical procedures and other medically-relevant roles, thereby ensuring them a holistic exposure,” said Gurushanker, who has plans to also set up a nursing training college soon.