Ruby Hall’s outreach

A 100-bed multi specialty hospital and a 250-bed cancer hospital are part of Ruby Hall Clinic’s (RHC) expansion plans, states its chief executive officer (CEO) Bomi Bhote, speaking to Parsiana in his office on the ground floor of the hospital. RHC is managed by the Grant Medical Foundation (GMF) and runs a 700-bed specialty hospital in Poona. The 100-bed multi specialty hospital in Hinjewadi will "cater mainly to the IT (information technology) companies in the area.” This facility is likely to be operational in late 2015, states this mechanical engineering graduate who joined the Foundation in the late ’90s after holding senior management positions in some engineering giants including Tata Motors. The 250-bed cancer hospital to be located in Amanora Township, also in Poona, will be operational in 2017. "Hinjewadi is in an advanced stage of completion and fit-outs are in process, plus the recruitment is nearly finalized,” reveals Bhote. There are also plans to start another hospital at Chakan later this decade. The modernization project includes the tearing down of two buildings within the eight-building complex at Sassoon Road and the erecting of two 20-storied towers in their place, to make space for more modern treatments.

RHC, Poona’s first hospital accredited by NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Health providers) currently runs from two Poona locations — Sassoon Road and Wanowrie. The latter, "one of the first ‘green hospitals’ in the country, functions as a boutique hospital,” according to Bhote, and provides personalized care for high net worth individuals, corporate executives and foreigners. Expanding on the high-end service provided, Bhote mentions it includes taking care of visa formalities and international cuisine for patients from overseas. The center, whose catch line is ‘Add comfort to care,’ offers a business lounge, complete with i-pads, "with service of the kind normally seen in five star hotels.” In keeping with the exclusive nature of services, there is no general ward in the Wanowrie center, while one exists at the Sassoon Road complex where subsidized facilities are provided to deserving patients. However, Bhote emphasizes, tariffs for similar medical services are the same at both locations.
Bhote states that the Foundation runs 18 diagnostic centers all over Maharashtra, of which about 50% are outside Poona, in Beed, Sholapur, Kolhapur and Satara, for instance. "All centers have MRI, CT Scan facilities and fully equipped laboratories,” he says. The outreach program was started 12 years ago and "all these centers are fully owned by RHC, though a few have limited investment by the medicos who run them.” Joining in the conversation with Parsiana, Dr Parvez Grant, GMF trustee and a cardiologist by training, states that he visits each of the diagnostic centers every Thursday, in rotation. It is important to keep an oversight of these centers, Grant feels.
The outreach program, which started with in-house ‘implanted’ facilities in certain companies with manufacturing facilities in and around Poona like Skoda, Infosys and Wipro, had at one time 27 such centers, but some had to be closed as they were not financially viable.
Unlike the trend in the health care industry, Bhote maintains that there are no plans to ‘corporatize’ RHC. "We have been totally debt free for the last 15 years,” he states, and it is their intention to keep things that way in the foreseeable future. All the expansion projects are funded from internal accruals, Bhote avers.
There are no special challenges for them in running multiple facilities at different locations as they have already put into place various systems and procedures, the CEO states. The hospitals are autonomous and have competent staff. There is centralized control where needed, such as on procurements and finance. "There is always a paucity of good medical staff, but that is a general situation for most hospitals. Not only is there a shortage of medicos for specialties and super specialties, there is a shortage all around, even for junior doctors,” he reveals. "We also find it difficult to hire good nursing staff, due to the demand for their services overseas,” he laments.
While there are no rules or bye-laws of the trust that stipulate subsidized medical treatment for Zoroastrians, Bhote recounts that a mobed from Satara was recently provided "nearly 100% subsidized treatment” for a by-pass surgery. "We handle each instance on a case to case basis,” he states. The CEO said that the number of Zoroastrian patients they treat annually is a very small percentage of the total number of patients. Zoroastrian doctors and other medical staff too do not form a significant portion of the employees and consultants that RHC employs.
RHC was set up in 1959 by the late Dr Keki B. Grant, a cardiologist and founder Fellow of the Indian College of Physicians who, in the 1960s, converted it into a public charitable trust. In 2000 this was renamed as the GMF. The Foundation is managed by a board of seven trustees, including Dr Parvez Grant, the founder’s son.