The Public Sector Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation’s CMD Gyanesh Pandey talks toSangeeta Yadav about building well-planned hospitals & the upcoming Ayurveda AIIMS at New Delhi
How has the 35-year journey in hospital consultancy and construction beenIJ
From being a Rs 100-crore turnover company to Rs 1,600 crore, the HSCC has grown leaps and bounds. Hospital is a place nobody wants to go but we have always envisioned building hospitals where patients feel comfortable. Our only mantra is karm karo phal ki chinta na karo. Fixing targets and achieving them is not our primary focus but delivering quality work is. We brainstorm on everything daily — from the inception of a project, to planning and conceptualisation, to architecture structuring and machinery requirements. It is a marathon exercise. I look into the minutest details of hospital building because I know how much space is required for blood bank, OTs, the route to OT, supporting rooms etc. lending experience to all hospital building projects has led to HSCC’s success stories. We have an edge over all other companies in the same sector.
How are HSCC’s Mauritian projects coming upIJ
We are working on a fast pace. When I took over as the CMD of HSCC, Mauritius was having several international collaborations for revving up their healthcare sector. I started looking at ways to value-create to our projects with the Mauritius. Our USP is that we deliver quality work before time. We got a pilot project which we completed much in advance and that is how we gained their confidence and that has led to this collaboration of construction more than 10 hospitals in Mauritius. On these too, we are running ahead of schedule and observing that the Mauritius Government has given us the project to build a hospital at their Rodrigues Island.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently laid the foundation for Bilaspur AIIMS…
Mr Modi is working so hard in every field and takes a keen interest in every project. While explaining the model to him, he was expressed concern about the building as Bilaspur is in a hilly terrain and an earthquake-prone region. He understood the magnitude of the project and why it had been given Rs 1400 crore, instead of the usual Rs 1000 crore. He will also be inaugurating India’s first All India Institute of Ayurveda in Delhi this month. Around 20 super-speciality hospitals are getting constructed throughout India under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana. We are moving towards a healthy India.
Tell us more about the new AIIMS coming up.
The three new AIIMS being constructed are in Nagpur, Manglagiri (Andhra Pradesh) and Kalyani (West Bengal) under PMSSY. All are approximately Rs 3000 to Rs 5000 crores each. After this, we will have nine AIIMS. The HSCC has 12 to 15 projects in India and abroad, all running on time.
How do you manage these projects with limited staffIJ
By taking the best people in the team, making the best use of their talent getting best results. I ensure there is no hierarchy in HSCC for controlling projects and the company. It is the workers who deliver and are at the helm of projects. I go to the site every day or at times, twice a day, when I feel that things are not moving. We work as a team.
How would you define a well-planned hospitalIJ
A well-planned hospital has an ICU, OT, kitchen, laundry, OPD, recycle zone etc but a good well-planned hospital is one which operates smoothly when the patient load comes. We plan according to patient load which is one of the biggest problems to tackle. Organised working of staff and doctors need to be given to a professional agency.
What are the parameters of hospital constructionIJ
Structure is the most important. We built a hospital in Nepal. During the earthquake, almost every building cracked up or collapsed. Ours was the only hospital in Kathmandu which stood strong. With over 1000 patients despite being only a 200-bed hospital, it was the only working hospital in Kathmandu.
Second, the flow of patients, doctors, workers etc should be well defined. In AIIMS OPD, there are more than 12,000 patients daily in each department. The hospital should have enough space for patients to sit, the waiting time should shrink and there should be adequate toilet and other facilities. We time every single detail like how many patients are getting themselves checked by one doctor and how much space will be required for a smooth flow. That is how we plan OPD in bigger hospitals.
Third, cleanliness and control of infection should be meticulously planned.
How do you rebuild an old hospitalIJ
That is a big challenge, especially if it is running. We rebuilt the Institute of Rotary Cancer Hospital in AIIMS, New Delhi, from a one-story to a seven-storey building. We are also redoing Mauritius’ Victoria Hospital.
Any other challenging projectsIJ
We have done over 150 projects. One of the best projects has been the new emergency block at Safdarjung, New Delhi. It is the maximum beds project in the history of HSCC with 1300 beds. Another one is the 500-bed Kalpana Chawla Medical College and Hospital in Karnal which got completed in a record time of two-and-a-half years. The under-construction ones are AIIMS, Masjid Moth, a 1000-crore project and NCI Jhajjar, a Rs 2000-crore project. There are many other projects in Aizawl, Imphal, Tejpur, Bengaluru and Kolkata, besides a mega-hospital for IIT Kharakpur, among others projects.