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Main Story
Wholesome Healthcare from Ahalia
Spread over 700 acres, Ahalia Healthcare Foundation has ambitious
plans to make their presence felt in the Indian healthcare market, Jayata
Sharma finds
 As
one enters the sprawling campus of Ahalia Healthcare Foundation (AHF) in Pallakad,
Kerala, one cannot but feel rejuvenated amid the soothing air and lush greenery.
This is exactly what is required to make patients recover early. AHF is thus
branding this very experience at their campus.
Situated in the valleys of the Western ghats, this Rs 100-crore project, started
in March 2005, is already home to the Ahalia Foundation Eye Hospital (AFEH)
with 300 beds and the Ahalia Ayurvedic Hospital and Treatment Centre with 30
beds. Right now, AHF is on an expansion spree, and how!
Expanding Horizons
 "Most
hospitals in India are located in cities, where natural healing environment
is not possible"
- Dr Anup Chirayath
Medical Director
Ahalia Foundation Eye Hospital
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Currently under construction is the extension of the Ayurvedic
Hospital, which after completion will contain 100 beds. The Group is further
planning to convert the Hospital into an Ayurvedic college in the next two years,
which will then expand to a total of 200 beds. The college will be complemented
by an existing 10-acre herbal garden. "In fact, one of the reasons behind
having an Ayurvedic garden is that it is a compulsion for opening up an Ayurvedic
college. The management had made plans in advance, so implementation is now
systematic," informs Dr Anup Chirayath, Medical Director, AFEH.
In addition, the Group plans to come up with four 200-bed hospitals each focusing
on specialities like cardiology, gynaecology, mother and child and geriatrics.
The foundation for the mother and child hospital has already been laid, and
the construction started a month ago.
The top management has visited the best paediatric and women's hospitals in
North America to draw inspiration for the upcoming hospital. In order to be
self-sufficient where medicine is concerned, the Group has drawn up a blueprint
for its own pharmaceutical unit, spread over two acres.
AHF currently houses a small Ayurvedic medicine manufacturing unit, which they
wish to expand to a full-fledged plant. The Ayurvedic garden will also be expanded
according to the needs of the Ayurvedic Hospital and college.
The campus is surrounded by villages which lack basic healthcare facilities.
Hence, the Group wants to tap the nearby healthcare market by opening dispensaries
in the areas of Trissur, Coimbatore, Malapuram, Pallakad, Pollachi (Tamil Nadu),
Calicut, Ernakulam and Kottayam.
Medical tourism is on the wish list too. "Although a few patients are currently
being directed from UAE, we plan to further tap the NRIs there. In any case,
Kerala has a sizeable population working in the Gulf," says Vivek Shukla,
Marketing Consultant for AHF.
Right now, AFEH is preparing for ISO accreditation and they feel that bagging
NABH or JCI too will not be difficult in the near future.
The project is not just limited to providing healthcare; the Group is also greatly
into development of people in the neighbouring areas. For this, they will, in
the next year, come up with a heritage centre for providing employment to the
villagers around the campus. The Centre will showcase and sell products and
items prepared by the local people. "It will serve as a platform for production,
promotion, research and training in heritage industries," says Lejpathroy
S, Assistant Manager, Marketing, AFEH. In the near future, AHF also plans to
set up an arts college in the campus.
| Staff: Although the surroundings are calm
and comfortable at Ahalia, the fact remains that the campus is far from
civilisation. This proved an obstacle when it came to convincing doctors
and other staff to join the project. It was soon overcome by the efforts
of HR Manager Premlal Blangat, who hunted doctors and persuaded them to
visit the Hospital at least once. "When they visited our campus and
saw the facilities we were ready to provide them, they readily agreed,"
says Blangat, who has been with the Ahalia Group for eight years. Today,
the Eye Hospital has a strength of 300 staff from as far as Haryana, Madhya
Pradesh, apart from nearby Tamil Nadu. The doctors are provided with villas
within the campus.
 Water
& Light: Another stumbling block was the scarcity of water and
electricity and road connectivity. Water scarcity was taken care of first
by sinking a borewell. "This was not sufficient even for our entire
campus, plus people from neighbouring villages used to come and utilise
this water. It was then when we thought of water harvesting," says
Dr Chirayath. Currently, Ahalia claims it has the largest water harvesting
unit in Asia with four lakes, with its largest lake providing 60 million
litres of water annually. Various fishes are bred in Ahalia's water harvesting
farms. It has also become the resting place for rare migratory birds.
The lakes are equipped with boating facilities, and the HR department
regularly organises boat races here.
Leisure: For the staff permanently stationed
at the campus (almost 50 per cent staff resides in the campus itself),
Ahalia Recreation Centre has been established. It houses an auditorium,
with a seating capacity of 150, which is a host to various cultural programmes
during festival seasons.
Studies: To address the poor educational
system in the location, the campus currently houses a primary school affiliated
with CBSE. The school will also be a medium of education for the children
of the staff housed in the campus.
CSR: As the surrounding areas have a majority
of poor population, children are abandoned quite often. Ahalia has stepped
in here too. It started an orphanage for children, where right now 36
kids are being housed. Ahalia Eye hospital is also about to launch a 'Prevention
of Blindness in children' campaign.
Background Picture Courtesy: Ahalia Foundation Eye Hospital |
Seeds of Foundation
The project is a part of Ahalia Group, whose parent business is money exchange.
The Group also has a chain of pharmacies spread across the Gulf region.
The management came up with the idea of this project as they felt a dearth of
proper medical facilities in and around Pallakad. The location was chosen keeping
in mind the greenery and the scope to put up an Ayurvedic garden.
The Group was keen on agricultural activities too, as the land is rich and fertile
here. Hence, along with herbal garden, you can also see rose gardens, jasmine
cultivation, mango trees, coconut plantations and a few acres covered by paddy
fields.
"Most hospitals in India are located in cities, where natural healing environment
is not possible. People who are unwell need to have peace of mind and be away
from unnecessary stress. Hence, we chose this location," explains Dr Chirayath.
He adds that the management wanted to set up various centres of excellence instead
of all specialities under one roof. This concept required ample space.
 Ahalia
Foundation Eye Hospital is involved in sutureless cataract surgeries, cataract
surgery without injection, foldable/multi-focal IOL, zyoplix laser treatment,
corneal transplant, paediatric ophthalmology, glaucoma therapy and surgery,
squint eye surgery, prosthetics and retinal laser treatment. They also have
an eye bank and provide contact lenses and spectacles. The Ayurvedic Hospital
on the other hand provides treatments for problems of asthma, skin, joints,
psychosomatic, auto-immune, obesity, developmental disorders, gynaecology
and helps in stress management. Most patients coming into the Ayurvedic
Hospital are children who are malnourished or undernourished. This is mainly
because of the poor living conditions of the people in surrounding areas.
"In the one year since we began, we have come across about 1,000 such
cases," informs Dr Arathi PS, Medical Superintendent, Ahalia Ayurvedic
Hospital. |
Bang on Target
For a project of this magnitude, marketing has to be strategic. For this purpose,
the Group has kept aside 25 per cent of their profits from the money exchange
business to be pumped into marketing this project. "Last year, we spent
a lot of money on branding and marketing exercises, but that was mostly abroad.
This year, we are concentrating more on India," says Lejpathroy. The Group
has been conducting awareness programmes and free screening camps for the common
people.
This is an ongoing process. Twice daily, a bus specially reserved for this purpose
visits nearby villages and brings in patients. The patients are dropped back
to their homes at the end of the day. "We conduct 35 free eye screening
camps every month for the poor, from which, serious patients are brought into
the Eye Hospital and taken care of without any charge. For people with general
medical issues, we have the Ayurvedic Hospital," informs Lejpathroy. There
have been regular CMEs in the past two years. Last year, the Eye Hospital concentrated
on cataract surgeries.
The project had conducted workshops for the prevention of chikun gunya, recently.
Besides external marketing, both the hospitals lay emphasis on internal marketing
and branding. "The Ahalia experience is what we are branding. Our tagline
is: There is no experience like the Ahalia experience. In order to provide that
experience, we have worked on the operational and internal marketing,"
informs Shukla.
With so much in store, AHF is sure to create ripples in the Indian healthcare
industry.
jayata.sharma@expressindia.com
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