HLL to set labs in 32 districts of Odisha to make medical treatment affordable Go Back

New Delhi, August 24: Public sector HLL Lifecare Ltd will expand the foothold in Odisha by scaling up the activities of its Healthcare Service Division which has made available essential drugs, medical devices and diagnostic services at discount rates ranging upto 60 percent.

After the thumping success in many States, HLL has signed a couple of memoranda of understanding with the Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Odisha, to set up Hindlabs and Lifecare Centres, the two unique initiatives that had affected a price reduction even in the open market.

Under the MoU, comprehensive medical retail outlets named Lifecare Centres (LCC) have already started functioning at three medical college hospitals– Shrirama Chandra Bhanj Medical College, Cuttack; Veer Surendra Sai Medical College, Burla; and Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati Medical College & Hospital, Berhampur. HLL is in the process of setting up two Hindlabs with 1.5 Tesla MRI scan machines to provide essential service to the patients in the districts surrounding the hospitals.

HLL and the Odisha Government also signed another agreement to set up pathlab /diagnostic centres (Hindlabs) at 32 district Headquarters, a major initiative to save the underprivileged from the fleecing by the private operators in the interior districts.

Both the sides teamed up to setup Linear Accelerator, including the building, at Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre (AHRCC), Cuttack, again another initiative to ensure affordable healthcare to the people.

“HLL has been in the process of transforming as a total healthcare player, further diversifying from its traditional stronghold areas like condom manufacturing. Through Hindlabs and Lifecare Centres, we are committed to deliver reliable, affordable and quality solutions for quality healthcare to the needy and the less privileged,” HLL chairman and the managing director Dr M Ayyappan said.

“We have already allotted the work to L &T for the building of linear accelerator at AHRCC. We hope to complete the work within the time-frame given by the Health Ministry,” the CMD said.

On the progress of setting up Hindlabs in the districts, the Chairman said that a detailed gap analysis was made and the report was already submitted to the State Government. “We will start the work immediately after the clearance from the Health Ministry. The plan and estimates for the renovations works had been done by the NRHM officials and submitted to the Health Ministry for approval,” Dr Ayyappan said.

“Discussions are also going on about opening diagnostic centre and Lifecare Centre at the AIIMS, coming up in Bhubaneswar,” he added.

“At our LCC, we are providing all type of medicines, surgical, disposables, implants, stents and pacemakers with 10% – 60% discount from MRP. Apart from this huge discount, these centres are also instrumental in creating job opportunities for the local people. Already 68 people were directly employed. We are now in the process of recruiting radiologists, pathologists, radiographers, lab technicians and other skilled workers for the Hindlabs in the districts,” the Chairman said.

The Healthcare Services Division of HLL, based in Bangalore, launched Hindlabs as a market intervention to bring down the costs in the disorganised radio diagnosis sector. The other venture Lifecare Centre was conceived to provide quality healthcare products by setting up a network of retail outlets. The Centres are selling surgical implants, surgical consumables, essential life saving drugs, ophthalmic medicines and ophthalmic accessories such as lenses and frames, depending on the demands of the neighbourhood markets.

HLL opened its first venture of Hindlabs (with path lab, X-Ray and ultrasound facilities) at R.K. Puram in New Delhi, primarily for Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) beneficiaries, in 2008. Hindlabs in partnership with Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) is providing centre management services for the management and operations of CT and MRI centres at ESIC model hospitals at Andheri East in Mumbai and Rajaji Nagar in Bengaluru. In Kerala, Hindlabs has three MRI Scan centres functioning inside the campuses of Medical College Hospitals in Thrissur, Alappuzha and Kottayam. All the centres are connected through World Class Teleradiology facility for correct, fast and expert diagnosis report generation.

Further spreading its wings, the Healthcare Services Division started two separate Hindlabs in Mumbai this year. One is Hindlabs pathology lab in Worli which is a referral centre with 22 collection centres across Mumbai. The other one is a high-end imaging centre in Koliwada with latest ultrasound, X-Ray and ECG facilities. Hindlabs uses state-of-the-art technology to provide the most comprehensive and advanced imaging services and our facilities are designed to comply with National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) standards.

“The opening of MRI centre has forced the private players to slash the rates to be in competition. We have fixed on an average Rs 3500 for MRI which otherwise cost anything above Rs 8000 in private sector. Now they also have reduced the prices,” Dr Ayyappan pointed out about the success of market intervention.

About HLL Lifecare Limited

HLL Lifecare Limited (formerly Hindustan Latex Ltd.(HLL)) is a Mini Ratna Public Sector Enterprise, under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. HLL’s Registered and Corporate office is at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.

HLL was established in 1966 with the objective of providing quality condoms for the National Family Planning Programme. HLL, from a single product company has transformed to a total contraceptive company and now to a Healthcare delivery company. At present HLL has 7 state-of-the art manufacturing facilities and 22 regional offices across India. HLL also has presence in more than 115 countries across the world. The total manpower strength of HLL today is 2720.

The purpose of business at HLL is “to provide high quality products and services at affordable price”.

HLL’s range of products includes Contraceptives, Hospital products, Pharmaceuticals, Ayurvedic, Vaccines, Personal hygiene products and Diagnostic kits. Its range of services includes Infrastructure Development, Procurement Consultancy and Facility Management. HLL is positioned as a total healthcare solution provider catering to the well-being of the society at large.

During the last 9 years, HLL witnessed rapid, sustained business growth with a CAGR of 36%.