Apollo Hospitals launched its first Day Surgery Centre at Alwarpet here on Thursday.
It is a dedicated facility for Day Surgeries, or minor surgeries, requiring just 60 minutes, or less, in the operation theatre. Prathap Reddy, Executive Chairman, Apollo Hospitals group, said about 300 – 500 of the surgeries performed at the main hospital were all day surgeries. “At least two thirds of them could be carried out in Day Surgery centres. In the West, for instance, about 60 per cent is done only in Day Surgery units,” he said.
He added that no expense had been spared to ensure that this centre has state-of-the-art equipment and operation theatres with laminar flow to control infection. There is a special suite for gastrointestinal procedures, several consultation rooms, and a 24-hour chest pain clinic at the 20-bedded Day Surgery in Alwarpet, he added.
Almost all minor ophthalmic, ENT, urological and gynaecological procedures can be performed at the new centre, he explained.
The plan is to have a Day Surgery unit for the South, North, East, West and Central parts of Chennai; and eventually replicate this model in the other cities. The total investment on the Centre was about Rs.5 crore, Dr. Reddy said. Preetha Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals said the new unit would be of service to patients who do not want to come to large hospitals for minor procedures. “We have not compromised spending on equipment,” she stressed. “Everything is state-of-the-art.”
Andrew Simkin, United States Consul General, Chennai, and Ajit Singh, Consul General of Singapore in Chennai were also present on the occasion.
