Fortis Healthcare aims to add around 1,500 beds over the next five years to enhance its presence in existing locations, according to its Annual Report for 2021-22.
The healthcare major currently has over 4,300 operational beds.
"We remain steadfast in our commitment towards growth and expansion. We plan to add around 225 beds in FY 22-23 through brownfield expansion, with a significant ramp-up planned in select facilities," the company informed its shareholders in the Annual Report.
The majority of the new beds will be added to the company's facilities in key geographic clusters - Delhi/NCR, Maharashtra, Bengaluru and Kolkata, it added.
"Over the longer-term plans are afoot to add around 1,500 beds over the next 3-5 years in our cluster regions. This will enable us to further deepen our presence in existing locations and leverage higher economies of scale in terms of both cost and revenue drivers," the healthcare major stated.
On the clinical front, the company said it expects to continue to strengthen its existing specialities and build new medical programmes.
"We are further augmenting our specialities, such as oncology, cardiac sciences, neurology, gastroenterology, orthopaedics, and pulmonology, by adding medical infrastructure and onboarding clinical talent," Fortis Healthcare stated.
Besides, it plans to focus on enhancing emergency response through better medical infrastructure and focused training of ER staff, it added.
"We will continue to drive our cost transformation programme focused on procurement excellence that will rationalise drugs and consumables cost, bring in efficiencies in capex process, and optimise indirect spend," the company stated.
Simultaneously, efforts to drive revenues via more focused sales and marketing efforts towards large payor mix segments, an increasing focus on medical tourism and pricing reviews across medical offerings and facilities would also be emphasised, it added.
Fortis Healthcare Chairman Ravi Rajagopal said the company is looking at strategic plans for further strengthening clinical specialities, medical infrastructure, manpower training, upskilling and onboarding of new talents.
"Investments in brownfield bed expansion should see the company add close to 250-300 beds each year for the next two to three years, taking our operational bed capacity to over 5,000 beds," he said.
The company's healthy balance sheet and cash flows allow it to partake in growth and consolidation prospects in the industry, Rajagopal said.
"To that effect, we would evaluate and pursue inorganic opportunities in our select focus clusters of Delhi-NCR, Maharashtra, Bengaluru and Kolkata. All these should augur well for future business growth and profitability," he added.
Rajagopal noted that the COVID pandemic took a heavy toll on the company's workforce.
"Over 7,500 employees across the network and many of their family members tested positive and were admitted at our hospitals," he stated.
