 Vasan Hospitals' expansion at Rs 45 crore
The Vasan Eye Care Hospitals, one of the largest eye care hospital networks (part of the Rs 100 crore, 50-year-old Vasan Health Care Group), is launching the 10th hospital in its chain and the first in Chennai in January 2007. Seven more will be added in the metro before July 2007. The Chennai facility is being launched in collaboration with Dr K Premraj, a prominent ophthalmic surgeon and managing director of Prems' Eye Clinic,
Chennai.
The centre would be branded as Vasan Eye Care Hospitals - Associate: Prems' Eye Clinic.
Dr A M Arun, chairman, Vasan Eye Care Hospitals, and Dr K Premraj exchanged the MoU documents at a function in Chennai recently.
The Vasan Eye Care Group has earmarked Rs 45 crore for investment in 2007 to take the total network to a strength of eight in Chennai. In all 50 per cent of the funds will be generated through internal accruals and the balance will be made up of debt and other equity options.
 The group aims to become the largest chain of eye care providers in the country by 2010, by bringing quality eye care to the neighbourhood. The expansion would be a mixed model of own facilities, franchises and JV tie-ups, Dr Arun said.
He said, "Today there are stand-alone centres offering good eye care in many cities. However, a large number of people look for reliable eye care in their neighbourhood itself and end up going to small clinics where they are not sure about the quality standards of eye care. Our plan is to meet this need by bringing in a chain of eye care centres close to where the people are based in a hub-and-spokes model. We are looking at one centre per eight lakh population."
The Chennai network, which currently has 25 ophthalmic surgeons with Dr Prems' Clinic, will scale up to 70 specialists when the eight centres are fully operational.
"Dr Prems' Eye Clinic is among the top three in terms of number of patients per day in Chennai and over the last 25 years have built a solid reputation for quality eye care. We are delighted to venture into Chennai - the Mecca of health care in India - in a tie-up with Dr Prem and his team," said Dr A M
Arun.
"We have been serving the people of Chennai for the past 25 years and in this 25th year, are delighted to collaborate with the fastest growing eye care network - the Vasan Eye Care Hospitals - in bringing quality eye care to the common man," said Dr
Premraj.
Vasan Eye Care Hospitals has invested the capital in the venture, while Dr Prems' Eye Clinic has brought in the brand goodwill and the running of the establishment to the table.
 The Vasan Eye Care Hospital chain includes nine state-of-the-art facilities in Tiruchi, Salem, Erode, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Kottayam, Kannur and Hubli. The Chennai hospital will provide services in advanced cataract and refractive surgery, vitreo retinal surgery, glaucoma and neuro ophthalmology and pediatric ophthalmology. There will be specialty clinics for the aged, children and computer professionals at suitable hours. Research will be conducted on stem cell transplantation, ocular pathology and
Uvea.
The Vasan Eye Care Hospitals network will also spread to other cities across south India shortly. Madurai, Coimbatore, Vellore and Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu, Bangalore, Mysore and Mangalore, Belgaum in Karnataka are the next few centres in the pipeline. Going forward, the group plans to expand its presence to New Delhi, Mumbai and Koltata and emerge as the largest eye care provider in the country by 2010 with 50 centres.
R Rangaraj
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