Reveals robust expansion plans for Eastern India
Narayana Health (NH) announced the acquisition of the two Westbank Hospital units in Howrah, West Bengal. This is the second acquisition by the NH Group in West Bengal in 2014 after the takeover of Jubilant’s hospital business in Barasat and Berhampore earlier this year.
NH has now completely taken over the management of the 150-bed Westbank Hospital Unit-I and 240-bed Westbank Hospital Unit-II, both in Howrah, through this acquisition. It had already been managing the cardiac centre at Westbank Unit-II since 2012, bringing high quality affordable cardiac care to the people of Howrah. Post this acquisition, NH will offer comprehensive cancer care facilities at Westbank, in addition to the upgradation of the other tertiary care specialities there. People across the entire Eastern region will benefit from the high quality cancer treatment that NH will now be able to offer from here. These hospitals have been serving the people of Howrah over time, and NH will build on it to take the healthcare services to the next level of care and outcomes. With this addition, the NH network has grown to 29 hospitals across 17 cities in India with a combined bed strength of around 7500. Allegro Corporate Finance Advisors was the sole financial advisor to NH for this acquisition.
Elaborating on the immediate plans for the two Westbank Hospital Units, Dr Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, Vice Chairman, MD and Group CEO, Narayana Health said, “In addition to retaining the current employee strength of close to 700, we will strategically strengthen it further. Our plan is to expand the Westbank service offering by taking cancer care to the next level of treatment by adding newer technologies and services and transforming it into a comprehensive centre of excellence in cancer. We will also elevate the level of care in specialities such as cardiac sciences, neurosciences, orthopaedics, medical and surgical gastrointestinal and urology.”
On the sidelines of the acquisition announcement, Narayana Health also revealed its robust plans for Eastern India. The healthcare conglomerate now manages a hospital in Durgapur, West Bengal, in addition to expanding its presence in Assam and Orissa. IQ City Narayana Multispeciality Hospital at Durgapur has 300 beds in phase-I, and 700 more beds will added in a phased manner. The Group also began operations of a 200-bed Super Specialty Hospital in Guwahati earlier this year. In the next two years, Narayana Health will come up with a 250-bed multispeciality hospital in Siliguri, and a 300-bed multispeciality hospital in Bhubaneswar.
Dr Raghuvanshi further elaborated saying, “Eastern India and West Bengal hold a special place in our strategic growth and expansion plans. The acquisition of Westbank Hospitals will create a new benchmark for medical care in this region. It is our ongoing endeavour to make the state a leading tertiary healthcare hub, to address the growing medical needs of people in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, North-East states and even neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh.”
EH News Bureau