Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday inaugurated the revamped and expanded multi-specialty hospital of Welfare Medical Foundation Trust here, an official said.The existing medicare centre run by the WMF Trust has been converted into a 60-bed specialty hospital and renamed "Villoo Poonawalla Memorial Hospital" with funding and equipment from the Serum Institute of India through its Villoo Poonawalla Foundation (VPF).Situated in Hadapsar, the new hospital promises to offer world class medical services and facilities at affordable rates, with reserved beds and heavily discounted rates for the underprivileged sections of society, said VPF Chairperson Natasha Poonawalla.
She said that one-third of the total beds in the general ward category would be reserved for the lower socio-economic segment and they would also strive to reduce healthcare costs by 50 per cent for this segment.Chairman of Poonawalla Group Cyrus Poonawalla and CEO of the world's third largest vaccines manufacturer Serum Institute of India, Adar Poonawalla, were present.Spread across 3,800 sq. m and nine floors, the hospital will have a round-the-clock casualty department and pharmacy, a 10-bed ICU, five operation theatres, a three-bed neonatal ICU, a kidney dialysis centre and other major facilities encompassing total health care.The Poonawalla family has already achieved success in educating and providing clean drinking water and sanitation through various ventures aimed at taking communities to a healthier future.