Nearly a decade before the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog envisaged private partnership in rural healthcare, a PPP-run hospital in Gujarat’s Kutch district has transformed hundreds of lives. The Adani Foundation-run Gujarat Adani Institute of Medical Sciences (GAIMS) in Bhuj was ostensibly India’s maiden successfully operating PPP model in the healthcare sector.
Over the years, it has contributed in creating confidence which led to rollout plans of six brownfield self-financed medical colleges in Tapi, Dahod, Panchmahals, Banaskantha, Bharuch and Amreli districts by upgrading the government hospitals through PPP. Its healthy ripple effects can now be felt at the national level.
Beginning
The government approached many corporates such as Narayana Hrudalaya and Manipal Education to adopt the hospital on PPP basis. However, many challenges such as feasibility and disapproval of grants up to Rs 12 crore became bottlenecks.
Adani enters fray to give back to the Karmabhoomi
After most corporates did not invest in the well-being of people surviving without proper healthcare, the proposal came to the Adani Group. Dr Malay Mahadevia, wholetime director, APSEZ and head of group, Adani Group, said, “Kutch is our Karmabhoomi and we have to make life-defining contributions towards giving back to its people.”
Since 2009, when the partnership formally came into effect, the group invested a Capex of around Rs 100 crore in ramping up infrastructure and top-line human resources among other things. A decade since then the cumulative operating deficit stands at Rs 25 crore.
Sea change in hospital infrastructure
From outdoor patient wards, operation theatres and labour rooms to intensive care units, every critical aspect of the hospital infrastructure grew manifolds. Likewise, every specialised treatment such as dermatology, psychiatry, pediatric, surgery, orthopedic, ophthalmology and ENT, among others recorded rapid augmentation from time to time.
Establishment of GAIMS medical college
While the pillars of the hospital facilities became stronger, GAIMS medical was established college in 2009. The college offers 150 seats for under-graduate courses and 51 seats for post-graduate courses and various specialisations.
Improving health indicators
The number of OPDs have nearly tripled from 1, 39,199 in 2014-15 to 3,17,361 in 2017-18. Likewise, there has been a steady rise in child births. From catering to just over 2,000 deliveries in 2014-15, the number rose by nearly 35 per cent in 2017-18.
Vision for a healthier future
The G K General Hospital is in the process of filing for National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers. The GAIMS medical college will be acquiring simulation models for medical students to sharpen their skills and thus impart education at par with global standards.
