Docs want Vadodara to be medical tourism hot spot
Vadodara, January 24:
It was only recently that rating agency CRISIL had pointed out in a city evaluation report Vadodara’s potential to emerge as a medical tourism destination.
And in the first ever such private intiative, city doctors came together to chalk out plans to promote Vadodara as medical centre with an eye on tourists-cum-patients from Gulf, African countries in addition to NRIs and NRGs. On Friday, responding to the call by the Vadodara Initiative (VI) group, 72 leading doctors from the city held a brainstorming session to devise ways to promote the city as destination for medical tourism. In addition to its thousand-odd family physicians, Vadodara is presently home to thousand consultants, 900 nursing homes and seven multi-speciality hospitals of corporate image.
‘‘We are as good as Ahmedabad, though being a smaller city. Interestingly, unlike Mumbai, where the latest medical technology comes first to government hospitals, in Vadodara it is the private doctors who lead,’’ said Dr Mayank Bhatt, Indian Medical Association (IMA) vice-president, Vadodara chapter. After the Friday meet, the doctors have begun their task in earnest with Dr Rikesh Majmudar of Aashirvad Hospital taking up the responsibility of collecting the data of all facilities and infrastructre of city hospitals.
City’s leading tour operator, Bharat Shah of Prominent Travels believes that while medical tourism is already happening, it needs to be better organised. ‘‘The packaging has to be done, facilities needs to be marketed in travel exhibitions and also like the hotel industry, the entire hospital industry should gear itself,’’ said Shah, who attended the meet.
City doctors admit that medical tourism is already happening in an informal manner. But not in an agressive manner, like Thailand which has emerged as favoured medical tourism destination for the Westeners, believes Dr Rajiv Shah, chairman of Unity Hospital. ‘‘Vadodara doctors always have been very enterprising; instead of making individual effort it makes sense to come together,’’ said Dr Shah.
Also, leading city doctors believe that with the increasing presence of super-specialists in the city, more so after the brain drain of doctors to the US has slowed down a bit, the medical sector has become a profitable venture.
While the task of collecting information of available medical facilities and infrastructure is on, a core committee of doctors and leading citizens will be formed shortly to overlook the promotion part, said Nilesh Shukla, VI co-ordinator.
original publisher: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=167004
It was only recently that rating agency CRISIL had pointed out in a city evaluation report Vadodara’s potential to emerge as a medical tourism destination.
And in the first ever such private intiative, city doctors came together to chalk out plans to promote Vadodara as medical centre with an eye on tourists-cum-patients from Gulf, African countries in addition to NRIs and NRGs. On Friday, responding to the call by the Vadodara Initiative (VI) group, 72 leading doctors from the city held a brainstorming session to devise ways to promote the city as destination for medical tourism. In addition to its thousand-odd family physicians, Vadodara is presently home to thousand consultants, 900 nursing homes and seven multi-speciality hospitals of corporate image.
‘‘We are as good as Ahmedabad, though being a smaller city. Interestingly, unlike Mumbai, where the latest medical technology comes first to government hospitals, in Vadodara it is the private doctors who lead,’’ said Dr Mayank Bhatt, Indian Medical Association (IMA) vice-president, Vadodara chapter. After the Friday meet, the doctors have begun their task in earnest with Dr Rikesh Majmudar of Aashirvad Hospital taking up the responsibility of collecting the data of all facilities and infrastructre of city hospitals.
City’s leading tour operator, Bharat Shah of Prominent Travels believes that while medical tourism is already happening, it needs to be better organised. ‘‘The packaging has to be done, facilities needs to be marketed in travel exhibitions and also like the hotel industry, the entire hospital industry should gear itself,’’ said Shah, who attended the meet.
City doctors admit that medical tourism is already happening in an informal manner. But not in an agressive manner, like Thailand which has emerged as favoured medical tourism destination for the Westeners, believes Dr Rajiv Shah, chairman of Unity Hospital. ‘‘Vadodara doctors always have been very enterprising; instead of making individual effort it makes sense to come together,’’ said Dr Shah.
Also, leading city doctors believe that with the increasing presence of super-specialists in the city, more so after the brain drain of doctors to the US has slowed down a bit, the medical sector has become a profitable venture.
While the task of collecting information of available medical facilities and infrastructure is on, a core committee of doctors and leading citizens will be formed shortly to overlook the promotion part, said Nilesh Shukla, VI co-ordinator.
original publisher: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=167004
Labels: Medical Tourism Destinations
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