Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi

Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Kochi is renowned for offering sophisticated and compassionate care in a serene and beautiful ambience. The hospital was created in 1998 on the wishes of spiritual guru Mata Amritanandamayi (popularly known as Amma) to provide outstanding and affordable medical care in a spirit of compassion to all, regardless of ability to pay. Most patients receive free or subsidised care.

The 1,300-bed Hospital comprises six medical speciality institutes, more than 30 departments and 10 specialist laboratories. "From 1998 to 2005, AIMS and all the healthcare institutions run by Amma's Ashram treated 2,097,099 people. During that time, we provided Rs 149.70 crore ($34,022,727) worth of free medical care; 7,51,098 patients received completely free treatment," states Dr Prem Nair, Medical Director.

AIMS has brought in a highly qualified and dedicated medical team with international experience to Kerala's doorstep. "Patients come to the hospital from all parts of India and the world. AIMS speciality institutes provide expert care for cancer, digestive diseases, head and neck disorders, heart disease, kidney diseases and neurological disorders," informs Dr Sanjeev Singh, Senior Medical Administrator.

What started with 125 beds and just five departments nine years ago, today boasts of the highest number of critical beds (195) in the country and Asia's largest dental college in its sprawling campus of 100 acres.

Amrita Express

"At the rapid rate we have expanded in just nine years, it takes at least 100 years for any other institute to reach this level" - Dr Sanjeev Singh Senior Medical Administrator AIMS

The growth of AIMS is akin to the growth of followers of Amma! It is expanding at a phenomenal pace with a new department added every month. "At the rapid rate we are expanding, it takes at least 100 years for any other institute to reach the level we are at and we've done that in just nine years," beams Dr Singh.

AIMS was awarded medical university status by the Kerala Government in 2002. It was chosen for the Central Government's pilot project on telemedicine. In its outreach community programme in the first year of operation itself, the hospital served approximately 30,000 patients, of whom 20,000 were ‘adivasis’. The ‘adivasis’ are treated totally free of charge and other patients are charged a minimal fee for treatment and medicines.

The OPD department receives 100-150 patients/day with an occupancy rate of 90-92 per cent and patients with major surgeries of 70-75 per cent. Its state-of-the-art infrastructure comprises a reference diagnostic clinical laboratory, including molecular biology and cytogenetics labs, a diagnostic imaging centre, a medical, dental, and nursing college, a pharmacy school and research facility, a computerised and networked Hospital Information System (HIS).

It is also one of the most tech-savvy hospitals. Informs Dr Singh, "Almost all our departments are integrated with HIS and we are soon moving towards becoming a complete paper-less hospital."

AIMS’s state-of-the-art infrastructure has won accolades worldwide and now the university is attracting students from worldwide. "Our teaching is amongst the best in the country. We have unique departments, for example in medical education, we have 32 mannequins wherein students can learn body functions like cardiac, respiration and learn to perform surgery," states Dr Singh.

Future

At this rapid pace, it plans to grow by introducing a new department every month. "We plan to consolidate and keep working on the quality. We're now working on our accreditation for NABH. We are also working towards a paper-less digital system. The OPDs are electronic and the labs are paper-less and now we are stressing for the same in the inpatient department. We are also now trying to build a 16-storey extended day care faculty," adds Dr Singh.

Another important segment where it is now concentrating is research. It has 256 clinical research projects going on currently. The main vision is to reduce the dependency on imported things and subsidise the product making it available to the masses.

"In a big leap in this direction AIMS is now working with Biocon and developed an insulin pump that would just cost Rs 25,000 as opposed to its current market price of Rs 4 lakh," he states. In the clinical set-up, it now plans to add 20 more departments.

Additionally, it has the only nanotechnology research faculty in the country. "We have professors from the best universities like Oxford and MIT," says Dr Singh.

With the best of services, best of faculty and moulding the best of talent, AIMS has indeed become a benchmark with which the corporates are struggling hard to keep up.