Wockhardt Hospitals, India’s leading superspeciality hospital chain, plans to establish a world-class heart hospital in Surat, in association with the Seventh Day Adventists Hospital, an institution providing healthcare services in the city.

The 120-bed hospital, to be called 'Adventist Wockhardt Heart Hospital', will be operational by December 2006.

“We are proud to create an advanced cardiac facility for the comprehensive treatment and management of heart diseases in Surat,” Wockhardt Hospitals’ Chairman Habil Khorakiwala said. “We bring an experience of over 35,000 heart bypass surgeries and 78,000 angioplasties in our hospitals in other cities.”

Dr M.S. Jeremiah, President and CEO of Seventh Day Adventist Hospital said, “We are delighted to partner with Wockhardt Hospitals, an organisation reputed for its ethical approach in patient care, and the only hospital in India to have an association with the Harvard Medical International of USA.” He added, “This is not the last step in the progress of the Adventist Hospital, we have future plans in the area of medical education and creation of other superspecialities.”

Wockhardt with its 17-year legacy as a provider of excellence in heart treatment aims to bring the highest quality of cardiac care to South Gujarat, at par with international standards. To the many heart patients of South Gujarat who travel to Mumbai for heart treatment, this heart hospital will bring the most advanced and affordable heart care, within their reach. The hospital will cater to all strata of population at very affordable costs.

Wockhardt Hospitals’ leading team of cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons are recognised both within India and across the world for their pioneering contributions in advanced heart treatment. Wockhardt’s dedicated heart hospitals in Bangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur and Hyderabad have success rates comparable to the best in the world. Wockhardt Hospitals are also recognised as the global pioneers of Conscious Off-pump Coronary Bypass Surgery, popularly called 'awake heart surgery', considered as the most evolved expertise in heart surgery.

Wockhardt Hospitals will bring to patients in South Gujarat, the rich medical expertise from its exclusive association with Harvard Medical International, the global arm of Harvard Medical School, the world’s leading medical institution. The association provides Wockhardt, access to the latest clinical protocols, innovations and patient care practices from 17 prestigious Harvard-affiliated hospitals in the US, including the Massachusetts General Hospital, the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Beth Israel Hospital.

The Harvard team has established Wockhardt’s core nursing practices in the areas of intensive care, operating rooms and ward care. Experts from Harvard periodically conduct training programmes for Wockhardt Hospital personnel. This association with Harvard for quality-driven healthcare delivery has enabled Wockhardt Hospitals in Mumbai to earn the distinction of being the first superspeciality hospital in South Asia to achieve accreditation from the Joint Commission International (JCI), the international arm of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organisations, which evaluates the standards of US hospitals. It is amongst 71 hospitals around the world to get this recognition. The accreditation requires a hospital to comply with almost 1,300 measurable standards. The new heart hospital in Surat will benefit from the standards achieved at Wockhardt Hospitals in Mumbai.

Surat has the highest incidence of coronary heart disease among all cities in Gujarat, attributed to genetic disposition and lifestyle in the city.

Wockhardt currently runs a cluster of superspeciality hospitals in Mumbai dedicated to cardiology, neurology, orthopaedics, ophthalmology and minimal access surgery. It runs dedicated heart hospitals in Bangalore, Nagpur and Hyderabad and a superspeciality kidney hospital in Kolkata. Wockhardt Hospitals will soon unveil a 400-bed superspeciality hospital at Bangalore