Sankara Nethralaya to make its entry in Mumbai

Patients from all corners of the country flock the corridors of the city-based specialty hospital, which has six of its centers in Chennai (with expansion happening in a couple of places), two each in Andhra Pradesh and Kolkata, where the stage is set for a grand inaugural of its second hospital. “We have completed the land acquisition process at Thane in Mumbai. The work is in full swing as we plan to make the facility operational in three years,” said Dr TS Surendran, Vice Chairman and Director of Pediatric Ophthalmology Department, Sankara Nethralaya, in an interview to DTNext. 

The competition in this medical field is hotting up to such an extent that the major players – the likes of Aravind Eye Hospitals, Dr Agarwal’s and Vasan Eye care, are also exploring newer territories to cater to the increasing domestic and international market need.  Aravind Eye Hospitals, for instance is coming up with a huge facility in Chennai, signalling its entry into this metro, that has earned the ‘Mecca’ of healthcare tag. Broadly outlining the progressive path that the wellknown entity has taken, he said the demand for eye care is increasing. 

From six consultants, at the inception stage, today, the Rs 170-crore Sankara Nethralaya has 100-plus highskilled medical professionals who take care of the patients daily. “Typically, we perform 150 surgeries every day, of which 30 are retinal in nature. 

That is the maximum number of retinal surgeries (complex ones included) performed anywhere in the world,” Dr Surendran said. The average number of out-patients screened and served sum up to 1,700 in the city centers alone every day. “Such is the inflow of patients in Chennai as well as Kolkata (400 out-patients) that we expect the numbers to double the next year,” he said. 

That would translate to 2,500 out-patients an opportunity to avail affordable eye care. An investment of Rs 30 crore has gone into setting up the upcoming Kolkata facility, that will provide endto-end eye care including laser for cataract and retina operations. “Our brand in Bengal is so popular that we decided to set up this center at Rajerhat over 75,000 sq ft,” Dr Surendran added. 

In fact, the quality standards are such that Sankara Nethralaya is the only eye-care facility allowed to perform surgeries on the mobile mode. Five years ago, the Mobile Eye Surgical Unit facility was set up where cataract operations are performed in the bus. Joining hands with the Tata Group the novel venture has been a success at Jamshedpur, where the initiative kicked-off to serve tribal people and those coming from remote areas. People from Chittoor and Kuppam, among other remote locations in Andhra Pradesh (AP), have benefited largely.

“We are the only certified provider as the government was convinced by the stringent protocols following the result of a pilot-study. In Andhra, we have completed over 3,000 surgeries using this mobility,” Dr Surendran said.