Slow And Steady, The Jupiter Hospitals' Way

Dr Ajay Thakker, Chairman and Managing Director, Jupiter Hospitals, believes in the greenfield over brownfield strategy. Thus while his first decade as a radiologist turned healthcare entrepreneur was dedicated to stabilising the Thane and more recently the Pune facilities, he is now scouting for a third location, again in Mumbais suburbs. His son Dr Ankit Thakker, CEO, Jupiter Hospitals, has started on the groundwork for their first international foray: an LA- based neuro rehab centre.

- Viveka Roychowdhury

The year was 2005. Asan experienced radiol-ogist, Dr Ajay Thakker had a thriving imaging practice in Thane, a suburb of Mumbai. Having being born and brought up in the same district, he started observing a disturbing trend. Quite often, the results from his practice would be the first indication of internal abnormalities like brain tumours, abdominal mass, etc. This would be the beginning of a very traumatic time for such patients and their families, as they struggled to cope with further treatment. But besides the costs, he realised that travelling to larger hospitals in South Mumbai and western suburbs for tertiary care was equally, if not more, draining on both patients as well as their care givers.

As he puts it, “I would see patients running from pillar to post for their tertiary healthcare. There were about 2000 primary and secondary healthcare beds in Thane and surrounding areas, but there wasn’t a single tertiary care facility. If even 10 per cent of these 2000 patients need tertiary healthcare, you can definitely provide this care in Thane.” And this was the rationale for shutting his successful imaging clinic and turning entrepreneur.

Leading a group of doctors, he shortlisted a location close to the arterial Eastern Express Highway, which was easily accessible to residents from nodes around Thane, like Mulund, Bhiwandi, Airoli, MIDC and SEEPZ as well as Navi Mumbai. A little more that 22 km away and an hour’s drive from Mumbai’s International airport, the three acre Thane facility, which was inaugurated in 2007, also sees a fair share of patients from different states of India as well as overseas.