MUMBAI: Wockhardt Hospitals plans to set up four new hospitals across the country at a total outlay of Rs 500 crore. The projects will be executed over the next two years and will involve setting up greenfield projects in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata.

The first of the new hospitals, which is located at Bangalore, will be commissioned in the first quarter of next year, Wockhardt Hospitals' chairman, Habil Khorakiwala said. The new hospital will also be affiliated with the Harvard Medical International (HMI).

Wockhardt is one of the few private healthcare players to have established hospitals across the country. It already has three hospitals, located at Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata.

The group's Mumbai hospital has just achieved accreditation from Joint Commission International (JCI), US, a gold standard in global healthcare. With this, Wockhardt Hospitals joins a group of 71 hospitals worldwide, which have passed JCI's stringent clinical quality standards. JCI is the international arm of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organisations, which evaluates quality standards of US hospitals. Wockhardt claims to be the first 'superspeciality' hospital in South Asia to receive JCI accreditation.

The JCI accreditation follows a rigorous onsite evaluation of Wockhardt Hospitals, Mumbai by an international surveyor team of healthcare experts. The accreditation process requires a hospital to comply with almost 1,300 measurable standards. According to Vishal Bali, vice president, Wockhardt Hospitals, the JCI accreditation will create a benchmark for the quality of healthcare services in India.

"Wockhardt is the only HMI-associate outside the US to win this recognition," said Harvey Makadon, director, HMI.