Zoho Aims To Solve Rural/Urban Divide in Healthcare, Announces Plans To Set Up A 250-Bed Hospital

Zoho today announced that it is building a 250-bed community hospital in Kattankulathur, on the outskirts of Chennai. The hospital will have a built-up area of 2.6 lakh sq ft and an area to bed ratio of 1,000 sq ft with self-contained facilities. The hospital will eventually be the centre from where complex healthcare will be provided in rural and non-urban areas using Haptic and similar technologies.

This hospital, an initiative driven by Zoho’s Medical Director, Dr Balachander Govindarajan, will reflect a synergy between analogue clinical skills and digital tools. A healing environment, holistic patient care, and a dynamic continuity of care before, during and after any hospitalization, will all be incorporated into the system design. Zoho will also invest in innovative medical software and hardware technologies that will be integrated with clinical care at this facility. This project involves an initial investment of ₹70 crore, and is expected to be completed in 12-16 months.

“Rapidly improving technology and network capabilities could change hospitals into healthcare back-offices. While the hospitals would continue to serve complex healthcare needs on-site, they would also reach with nimble arms, a home or an office, be it in a rural or urban area, to handle healthcare issues at source.This should help realize the concepts of a ‘home hospital’ and in-fact an ‘anywhere hospital’ that can be instantly set-up and high quality care can be provided wherever needed. This is the direction of our long-term healthcare initiative,” said Dr Govindarajan, a cardiologist who was earlier based in the USA.

Sridhar Vembu,  CEO and co-founder of Zoho Corp said: “We noticed that exurbs like Guduvanchery, smaller towns and rural areas do not have ample healthcare facilities that are common today in urban centres. The quality and cost are also restrictive. With this initiative, we intend to reduce the rural/urban divide. We will train paramedics in technology and clinical skills so that they can provide healthcare outside urban areas as well. We at Zoho are determined to use all the tools at hand to make impactful healthcare, a pan-societal reality over time.”

From pre-entry screening, infection safe waiting area arrangements, balanced natural/artificial lighting and ventilation to noise reduced delta wave ICUs and garden spaces, the hospital will address all aspects of a secure healthcare environment. Technology will be incorporated to ensure an error-free and high-quality healthcare delivery. Though predominantly an allopathic facility, AYUSH treatment features would also be integral in this holistic wellness project.

Zoho is also an investor in vTitan, a healthcare company that is building medical devices like syringe infusion pumps, and MedicalMine Inc., another healthcare company that applies cutting-edge technological advances to facilitate data analysis and efficient management of medical treatment. Both vTitan and MedicalMine are helping in establishing the hospital.