30 minute interview

'We are Looking at PE for Our Plans in India'

Hailing from a trading family in Calicut, Kerala, Dr Shamsheer VP, is the founder of Lifeline Hospital Group in Abu Dhabi. Dr Samsheer, who did his MBBS from KMC Manipal, Mangalore, followed by his post graduation in Radiology from SRMC, Chennai and Fellowship from Mass General Hospital, Boston, has chalked out ambitious plans of setting up 1,500 beds in multiple countries. He speaks to Rita Dutta about the group's expansion plans. Excerpts:

Dr Shamsheer Managing Director, Lifeline Hospital Group, Abu Dhabi

From a 100-bed hospital in Abu Dhabi, reportedly your group has planned 1,500 beds in multiple countries. Why this sudden heightened interest in healthcare?

Yes, we are either setting up or buying stakes in hospitals in Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, India and Egypt.

The healthcare scenario has changed rapidly in the past few years. The key business drivers are not the same anymore. Insurance pay out is the norm of the day. In UAE, for instance, almost every expatriate is now insured. The insurance soon will extend to the local population of the country. The same process holds good at various stages in other GCC countries. This has increased the scope for private healthcare. We would want to gain the first mover advantage in this scenario.

What are the reasons for choosing these countries for investment?

The growth and boom in the healthcare sector is the reason. With our corporate office in Abu Dhabi, makes it easier for us to manage the operations in these countries.

Would these hospitals be fully owned by your group?

Most of the hospitals will be owned by us fully. We are also going in for buying in stakes in some of hospitals. We are also bidding for management contracts for some big hospitals.

When did you set up the first hospital in Abu Dhabi? And why did you choose to build it in Abu Dhabi?

I started off in Abu Dhabi with a 8,000 dhirham a month job in Sheikh Khalifa Medical City Hospital. Then, I decided to venture out on my own and realised the potential of the opportunity being created in the healthcare market space here.

Lifeline Hospital, our flagship hospital, was set up in May 2007. We chose Abu Dhabi because it had a big scope for a high quality hospital, especially for the expat population. Moreover, the changing insurance scenario was a factor that prompted us to chose Abu Dhabi.

Please share your plans of tapping the UAE market further.

We have one hospital that we started last year in Abu Dhabi. We are coming up with three more hospitals in the city. Then we have plans to set up a hospital in Al Ain.

The chain of pharmacies has also been recently set up. We have seven outlets as of yet. We will take it to 100 pharmacies in the next five years. We have also recently experimented by setting up three OPD-cum-diagnostic centres with specialists and super specialists. It has taken off well. So, we plan to set up more of these smaller centres in future.

Besides hospitals, please share details about your plans to tap any other sector of healthcare.

As I mentioned, we are going add to our number of pharmacies. Apart from that, we have interests in setting up a big healthcare management consulting company with top consultants of the Asian healthcare industry. Thereafter we will run, manage and turnaround hospitals.

We also have a pharmaceutical division. Our strategic alliances with Dr Reddy and Emcure have enabled us to license and distribute their products in UAE. We are also creating alliances with some American companies, who will help us make it big in this field.

Lifeline Hospital, Abu Dhabi has recently received 'Daman Healthcare Quality Award' for its active participation and contribution in improving the healthcare quality standards and it also the first hospital in the UAE to receive the Australia Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHSI) certificate for its adherence to healthcare standards and regulations. How much significance do you attach to quality?

Quality is very critical. This is the very reason why we built our first hospital. We are clear that any hospital of Lifeline will be built in adherence to international quality standards. In fact, by the time this interview is published, we would have already started our preparations for JCI. My agenda is to get the JCI accreditation in a record time. Let us see how it shapes up.

How much importance would you accord to use of IT and medical tourism for the upcoming hospitals?

IT of course is again very important aspect of running a hospital. Our hospitals will always be automated and will strive towards providing systematic and faster care. We are studying the potency of the medical travel business, as of now. Based on what our strategy consulting team comes out with, we will take a call on that.

Would be the upcoming hospitals be a replica of the hospital that you already have in Abu Dhabi or how different would it be?

They would be different. The service mix will be offered as per the demand and disease profile of the area where we operate. Even the infrastructure would be different. For example, the Lifeline Day Care Surgery Centre in Mussaffa, Abu Dhabi, which will be commissioned in a couple of weeks is a typical day care centre. It is in an industrial area and will mostly cater to expats working in industries and factories. One of our new hospitals will be an all women hospital.

Would these hospitals be controlled from Abu Dhabi?

Yes and no. We ardently believe in a horizontal corporate structure. I would let the hospital be managed by its team. We may just set some financial and clinical standards for them and then leave it to them to meet these.

Please share more details about your investment in India.

Cannot share much on that right now. We are planning a hospital there to start with. I recently received drawings. We are also considering taking over a popular, big hospital. But for that, we are competing with other players in India.

What is the fund that you have earmarked for this expansion and what is the source of the funding?

Wouldn't be able to disclose that, as of now. But we are looking at private equity especially for our plans in India.

Which specialties / super specialties would you be concentrating on?

We concentrate on the markets we are serving. That throws to us the specialties and super specialties that we need to provide. We prefer the market to drive our initiatives. So today, our hospital is a multi-speciality set up. Tomorrow, we will come up with a mother and child hospital for the rich urban class of people in some other country. Then, we also would set up day care surgery centres in places which require them.

In Abu Dhabi, your hospital has done some health awareness programme. What corporate social responsibility are you planning for the upcoming hospitals?

CSR is very vital for our brands. Our Abu Dhabi hospital has taken lead in educating people about diabetes, breast cancer, AIDS, etc. We are coming up with a very interesting campaign on smoking hazards. Hopefully, that will win the next year's Express Healthcare Award.

We will surely have social awareness campaigns for the new hospitals as well. In fact, we have our own advertising agency. This really helps. Our creative team is really special as it creates and delivers excellent campaigns.

rita.dutta@expressindia.com