Community

URMC Announces Partnership Discussions with Apollo Hospitals, Leading Hospital Network in India

Aug. 26, 2013

Officials from the University of Rochester Medical Center are in India’s southern city of Hyderabad today to sign a memorandum of understanding aimed at establishing an affiliation with one of India’s largest private hospital networks. 

Under the terms being discussed, physicians from the Medical Center would work with Apollo Hospitals to develop Apollo’s clinical, research, and education programs in three areas:  Emergency Medicine; Neurosurgery and Neuromedicine; and Gastroenterology, Gastrointestinal Surgery, and Gastrointestinal Oncology. 

Apollo Hospitals is a network of 50 hospitals located across India and eight other countries in South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.  Apollo has approximately 8,500 acute care beds, making comparable in size to the U.S. hospital systems Kaiser Permanente and Tenet Healthcare.

Through the proposed affiliation, Apollo Hospitals would draw on URMC’s expertise as it pursues a strategy to align its clinical programs with Western standards of medical care.  In return, the affiliation would give URMC a unique opportunity to extend its brand internationally. 

“We’ve been very impressed with the leadership at Apollo and the strategic direction they’ve defined for their organization,” said Bradford C. Berk, M.D., Ph.D., CEO of the University of Rochester Medical Center.  “We’re excited about the opportunity to partner with an organization the size, scope, and quality of Apollo Hospitals.”

URMC officials are meeting at Apollo Hospitals Hyderabad, a 350-bed  hospital serving India’s fourth largest urban center.  The city of Hyderabad is larger than Los Angeles and Chicago combined, with a population of 6.8 million.  Apollo Hospitals Hyderabad is among seven Apollo hospitals to earn accreditation from Joint Commission International, a branch of the organization that accredits U.S. hospitals. 

 “Our association with the University of Rochester Medical Center will propel us to a different platform,” said Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group.  I am extremely happy that we have decided to work together to create a new model of health care, combining the best of the East and the West.”