A Turnaround Tale

Dr Kishor Pujari, CEO, Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital, speaks on strategies that led to making it a self- sustainable hospital

- Rita Dutta

Udaipur, the city of lakes, is one the most-sought after tourist destinations with over 10 lakh tourists visiting it annually from across the globe. The erstwhile capital of Mewar has been witnessing a boom in healthcare in the last few years with a spurt in private hospitals like Pacific Medical College Hospital, The Ananta Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital, GBH American Hospital and the entry of a mega corporate brand with Fortis Healthcare’s tie-up with the JK Group.

The spate of institutes, offering world class facilities, excellent clinical acumen and cutting edge technology, has been partially successful in arresting the trend of outflow of patients to Ahmedabad. Whether it was cardio, neuro or oncology or joint replacement, the affording class in Udaipur had preferred to trudge to Ahmedabad or sought treatment in the nursing homes that dot the city’s medical landscape. A decade back, the non affording class opted for treatment in the Government-run Rabindra Nath Tagore Medical College.

With a renaissance in healthcare of sorts in the last few years in Udaipur, the city has now become an over saturated market in terms of having a bed strength of over 9,000 for a population of around 4.5 lakh in the city and another 5 lakh in the periphery. Says Akhil Dave, GM – Marketing, GMCH, “Of the 9,000 beds, around 5,000 beds are in the six medical college hospitals.” Besides the Government-run Rabindra Nath Tagore Medical College, the five private medical college hospitals are Pacific Medical College, American International Institute of Medical Sciences, The Ananta Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Pacific Institute of Medical Sciences and Geetanjali Medical College.