Apollo Hospitals enters into partnership with Imperial Hospital in Bangladesh

Chennai-based healthcare group Apollo Hospitals has signed an agreement with Imperial Hospital Limited, Chattogram, to enable access to world-class treatments for Bangladeshi patients.

Under this agreement, Apollo Hospitals will operate and manage the 375-bed "Apollo Imperial Hospital".

Apollo will get a fixed management fee and a share of the overall revenue by operating the hospital in Chattogram, founded by Rabiul Husain, reads The Telegraph.

The 10-year contract, which is auto-renewable, will be effective from July this year and is expected to provide secondary and some tertiary care treatments to patients.

After the two parties formally inked the agreement in Chennai on Monday, Prof Rabiul Husain, chairman of Imperial Hospital, said, "We are happy that Apollo Hospitals Chennai came to help us to run a hospital. We are very hopeful and confident that we will set up a very good healthcare facility that will help many poor patients."

"It is not easy for some patients to travel abroad. Our hospital will relieve these patients of the hassle, which will be an achievement. With the collaboration of Apollo Hospitals, we want to move forward," he said, adding, "We aim to share technology".

MA Malek, a senior member of the board of directors of Imperial Hospital Limited said, "Every day many people come from Bangladesh for treatment at Apollo Chennai. Not all the people who came here from Bangladesh are rich."

"We want Apollo Chennai to bring these facilities to Chattogram and provide treatment to our local people so that they do not have to go to India, Thailand or Singapore for treatment," he added.

Prathap C Reddy, chairman of Apollo Hospitals Ltd, said, "Many patients from Bangladesh come to India for treatment. However, there are a lot of costs associated with travelling. We hope with this hospital, some of the patients would not have to travel as they would get the same care and treatment as they would have gotten at Apollo in India."

According to the records of the Government of India, about 6,000 patients go to India from Bangladesh for tertiary care procedures. 

Bengal is one of the biggest beneficiaries of medical tourism from Bangladesh. Some of the patients would still be coming to India despite the new set-up having high-end treatment being available here, Apollo officials suggest.

The hospital chain has branches in 25 countries including the UK, Mauritius, Egypt, Barbados, Vietnam, Fiji Island, Bahrain and Nigeria with upcoming projects in Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia, Cameroon, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Samoa.