The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Foundation stone laid for MIOT Hospitals International

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Friday, Jun 19, 2009
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Foundation stone laid for MIOT Hospitals International

Special Correspondent

It aims to combine cosmopolitan ambience with affordable treatment costs

— Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

PROUD MOMENT: (From left) P.V.A. Mohandas, MIOT Hospitals managing director; Andrew T. Simkin, U.S. Consul- General in Chennai; Mallika Mohandas, MIOT Hospitals chairman; and Elizabeth Simkin at a function to mark the laying of the foundation for the MIOT Hospitals International project in Chennai on Thursday.

CHENNAI: MIOT Hospitals on Thursday launched a project to develop a world class hospital that will combine a cosmopolitan ambience with affordable treatment costs.

Managing director P.V.A. Mohandas laid the foundation stone for MIOT Hospitals International in the presence of chief guest Andrew T. Simkin, U.S. Consul General in Chennai.

Providing an overview of the facilities proposed at the hospital, Dr. Mohandas said that the institution would have 450 beds with 12 operation theatres and a spectrum of super-specialities ranging from surgical oncology to multi-organ transplant surgery.

A helipad atop the eight-storied edifice, which also has three basement layers, would be used to receive emergency cases. Laminar air flow systems to ensure zero-bacteria environment and avoid transmission of hospital-acquired infections and a ‘dirty corridor’ to flush out post-surgery waste are among other features.

Dr. Mohandas said that the hospital would be affordable for international and Indian patients seeking the best available healthcare.

Pointing out that innovation of conventional procedures had now lowered spinal surgery costs and hospital stay without compromising on safety, Dr. Mohandas urged the fraternity of surgeons to be more innovative.

The U.S. Consul General said MIOT’s philosophy of delivering tertiary care at affordable costs represented the essence of what the U.S. was attempting through the health sector reforms declared by President Barack Obama.

Noting that millions of U.S. citizens were denied access to healthcare, Mr. Simkin said the debate now was centred on the disconnect between treatment costs and quality of outcome. There was growing realisation that in spite of having relatively higher per capita healthcare expenditure, the results were not much better than countries that did not spend as much.

“We need to promote the best practices rather than the most expensive ones,” Mr. Simkin said. The focus in the U.S. was to attack the roots of inflation in healthcare, he said.

Mr. Simkin pointed out that there had been a great deal of global collaboration on the health front as was recently illustrated by the common resolve in checking a pandemic like swine flu. New discoveries in one country had led to the advancement of care in other countries.

Prithvi Mohandas said the hospital sought to attract the biggest minds in the world. The interiors of the new hospital would be designed to provide a global atmosphere that “would take away the element of culture shock.”

Mallika Mohandas, MIOT chairman and Barry D. Rosario, consultant, spoke.

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