Taking the first step towards entering the healthcare sector, Shiv Nadar led HCl Corporation launched a new company, HCl Healthcare with an initial investment of Rs 1,000 crore towards setting up its healthcare arm.
“HCl Corporation will give the first cheque of Rs 1,000 crore towards the new company. This is not the total investment and we will invest more as and when required,” said Shiv Nadar, Founder & Chairman of HCl. HCl Corporation, the controlling arm of IT services major HCl Technologies and former PC maker HCl Infosystems, created a new subsidiary HCl Healthcare that will focus on the 300 million strong Indian urban middle class. The new company aims cover 20 million people by 2020 through its chain of multispecialty clinics.
On the occasion, HCl Healthcare also announced its first subsidiary, HCl Avitas, which is a joint venture with Johns Hopkins Medicine International. “HCl Healthcare intends to provide innovative medical services and products. We will invest Rs 1,000 crore over the next five years in expanding the operations and reach,” said HCl Healthcare’s Chairman Surya Mohapatra.
He further added that HCl Avitas is going to HCl Healthcare’s delivery arm and would be responsible to set up multispecialty clinics across the country. While explain the nature of collaboration with Johns Hopkins Medicine International, Mohapatra said, “The will provide consultancy services for which the company would make the payments. The collaboration will not involve revenue sharing between the two.”
HCl Healthcare’s Vice Chairman Shikhar Malhotra said the firm’s immediate goal is to create an organised technology-led healthcare system. “HCl Healthcare intends to be that partner and provide patient-centred care to over 20 million people by 2020,” he added. HCl Healthcare has already acquired a controlling stake in Bharat Family Clinic, a primary healthcare provider. Bharat runs two health and wellness clinics in and around Delhi. These will from be re-named as HCl Avitas clinics.
“We will begin with a network of multi-speciality clinics across the country, starting with the National Capital Region. We also plan to hire over 1,500 physicians in the next five years,” HCl Avitas CEO Harish Natarajan said. As technology is HCl’s strength, the clinics will be networked giving patients access to their medical history and the best specialists available. Association with John Hopkins will help in emulating the global best practices and best evidence-based systems, he added.
John Hopkins University President Ronald Daniels said the university has $ 1 billion that will be used to address challenges in healthcare. Of which around $ 400 million will be utilised on individualised-healthcare globally.
“Association with HCl is a part of our commitment to spread healthcare awareness and solutions across the globe,” he added. Johns Hopkins Medicine International CEO Steven J Thompson said, “By sharing our knowledge, clinical expertise and best practices with firms like HCl, we strive to improve global health. We hope to establish, with HCl Healthcare, a new paradigm in patient care in India.”
Johns Hopkins Medicine International facilitates the global expansion of the Johns Hopkins Medicine mission: to improve the health of the community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in medical education, research and clinical care. Johns Hopkins Medicine International provides personalized, culturally-appropriate care for patients traveling to Johns Hopkins from outside Maryland and the United States, and for local patients with limited English proficiency. Johns Hopkins Medicine International also leverages Johns Hopkins’ extensive knowledge base in medicine, nursing, public health, medical education, research and healthcare administration to improve health and healthcare delivery through sustainable, high-impact collaborations throughout the world.