BRANCHING OUT

Hospitals are setting up standalone clinics in metro cities, to make it easier and more pleasant for patients to access expert care. This is also helping decongest the parent facilities and reduce wait times

ful,” Dr Julka says.

Already, the Max facility is conducting 15 chemotherapy sessions a day. At Mumbai’s offsite ACI centr too, an average of 10 chemo sessions are administered a day.

CLOSE TO HOME

A big advantage is th reduced wait time, sa may Mutha, 25, whose father Dhirendra was diagnosed with mouth cancer in August.

“At the ACI hospital, we would have to wait about half an hour for our turn. At the clinic, there is no wait,” Hitamay says.

The ACI clinic is in the subur of Borivli, over an hour away from the main facility.

“About a year ago, we realised that there were a lot of people from the suburbs for whom just the commute to and from their regular chemotherapy sessions was taking up to four hours,” says Dr Ramakant Deshpande, chairman of the Mumbai-based Asian Ca Institute hospital. “So we opened the clinic, to offer chemotherapy, help with routine checks and consultations, diagnosis and biopsies.”

For Dhirendra, 58, and his son, the clinic has provided much relief. Initial chemotherapy and surgery were performed at the main hospital, but the weekly chemotherapy sessions since February are administered at the Borivali clinic, which is right near the Muthas’ home.

“Because it’s ACI’s own clinic, I am not worried about the quality of care. Also, in case of an urgent query or checkup, we know that help is close by,” Hitamay says.

The ACI hospital still gets about 100 patients a day, so the clinic has helped redistribute the load too.

FIRST RESPONDERS

In an increasingly mobile India, where cities are full of young professionals with little family support and no go-to general practitioner, hospital-run clinics can play a vital role, says Dr Hari Prasad Kovelamudi, president of the Apollo hospitals division. “People are reluctant to walk into hospitals for non-threatening condin

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