The ministry of health and family has announced a 15 year agreement with Apollo Hospital Group to manage Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’.
The deal was signed on behalf of the government by Health Minister Dr Aminath Jameel and Dr Preetha Reddy, who represented Apollo Hospital Group.
Apollo estimates it will need to spend US$25 million to bring the hospital up to global standards, according to the Economic Times, an Indian newspaper.
A statement released by the ministry claimed the objective of the deal is to improve health services while keeping prices stable.
Apollo Hospital Group was first established in 1983, and is now considered the third largest private healthcare provider in the world. The company currently administrates 8,000 beds and has plans to reach 15,000 beds, reports the Economic Times.
Apollo is expected to make an assessment of the hospital’s needs in the first three months, and plans to offer orthopedics, cardiology, gastro, neurology and acute care and trauma specialities in the first phase of the privatisation deal. The hospital will set up and operate a cardiology unit within the year, the health ministry added.
Chairman of the privatisation committee Mahmood Razee said one of the first changes to be made by Apollo would be to management.
“The major issue was that the management structure [at IGMH] was not working properly, this led to high costs and some services and medicines not being available. The overall qaulity of service went down,” he said.
“Over the next three months there will be structural changes to management changes at IGMH, and an evaluation plan will be submitted as well. Apollo group gives IGMH the advantage of economies of scale, which will lower the overall running costs.”
The hospital’s new management group has also revealed its intentions to make 80% of its employees Maldivian over a 15 year period, although it was unclear as to how this would be achieved given the lack of medical higher education facilities in the country.
Another objective the ministry noted was to ensure that all employees are treated within the correct employment regulations set by the government.
Razee noted that the deal was not part of the government’s public-private partnership scheme.
A doctor working at IGMH said staff were unable to comment on the deal “because we haven’t been officially informed yet. All the information we have received has come through the media.”
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let's face it IGMH can't get any worse than it is. hopefully the indians can make is world class like Apollo in Lanka
Ahmed Mohamed just to correct you "Apollo in Lanka" is not run by the Apollo Hospital Group, they were involved in it, initially but now it is run by a sri lankan insurance company.
Secondly the hospital sux big time.
But the real Apollo Hospitals, they are exceptionally good
and this is a really good development, finally a hospital that I could look forward to
Yes, the Apollo in Lanka is definetly not up to global standards and I wouldn't advise anyone to go there! But the Apollo in India is an entirely different story and with them, there is hope for IGMH....finally! Let's hope for the best and congratulations to everyone who worked to finally do something and bring some change to a hospital that has been one in name only!
If the Apollo Group is going to spend upwards of $25 Million, then how are they going to make this back? These are just upgrade costs, with the recurring costs factored in as well, I would be very interested to know how they can make a significant profit without hurting the people of the Maldives. A "world class" medical facility also comes with world class costs and the fact of the matter is that costs in the Maldives are far higher than those in India.
All in all, this is probably one of the best things that this government has done for the people of the Maldives. It may not stop people from asking for handouts, but at least our people wont have to travel abroad for every minor little thing. And who knows, maybe the Apollo Group can focus on Medical Tourism, create a partnership with a resort for recovery, and recoup their investment through foreign tourists.
Having a hospital does not mean that everyone has access to it. In the US thousands go without vital surgery because they cannot afford it. I hope we can come up with some way to make sure Maldivians don't suffer the same fate.
I think this could be a good developement. But make no mistake government's role in country's health care is not over. And this may be the biggest danger that the government may switch their focus to other issues and ignore oversight of the hospital and health care to other islanders just like Maumoon did in the last 30 years.
This simply tells us that The government has failed in maintaining its own hospital! we all know its not abt money since we get money to waste on useless stuff!
lets hope for the best for healthcare!
after thirty years of misery and pain .. the new government have made our dreams come to true .., why couldn't that dictator bring a hospital of this quality to us? is not 30 years enough? or else he wants us to beg him? or else he wants us to spend all the money abroad?
at first Apollp in lanka was constructed and run by apollo group but later government of sri lanka bought the hospital to the government so the maagement was changed and doctor start to leave the apollo in colombo.
who cares about lanka, lets hope a group of investors invest like $25 million for something. atleast something must go wrong. dont compair maldives with lanka. when we do somthing we do in the best interest ofthe people.
IGMH is run my incompetent and/or uneducated individuals. Most department heads were/are ex. Community Health Workers.
If anyone is to do anything decent to IGMH, almost the entire management needs to be replaced. The corruption has trickled down to the level of even the girls at the various counters serving the public!
Let us wait and see what Apollo Hospitals can do for IGMH and the Maldivian people.
This is a good approach, since its new we need to give a couple of years to see the results. I commend the government for trying new approaches to the failed institutions and industries in the Maldives.
At face value we outright see, that institutions like IGMH will provide a better service by an experienced management such as the Appolo Hospital.I really like to see, opposition parties questioning the real benefits been weighed by concerned departments and adequate scrutiniy is given before venturing into these critical service outlets. This is where the public will see real benefits of multiple party governance system.
why go for Apollo,hire a best administrator with a strong medical background for IGMH and that will do the job. There is no doubt that Apollo is one of the best but its a business minded organization, so there comes a question about the affordability.