Adoption of eco-friendly designs in healthcare facilities is the need of the hour: Dr Vivek Desai
Adoption of eco-friendly designs in healthcare facilities and policy interventions to address shortage of skilled human resources in healthcare is the need of the hour, says Dr. Vivek Desai, founder and managing director, HOSMAC, a hospital planning, management and design consultancy firm.
He further said that adopting eco-friendly designs in healthcare facilities is not only a financially sound measure but also a significant step towards addressing environmental concerns.
Hospitals allocate a substantial portion of their operational budgets, approximately 4 per cent, to cover energy costs. Larger healthcare institutions end up spending approximately Rs. 20 to Rs. 22 crore on energy expenses annually. This hefty energy consumption is attributed to the constant 24×7 operation of hospitals and air conditioning. It further has considerable water usage and waste generation that adds to the environmental footprint.
HOSMAC offers comprehensive end-to-end solutions that address existing gaps and unlock untapped potential within healthcare infrastructure and design. With a dedicated team of over 120 professionals from various healthcare domains, HOSMAC has 300 man-years of consulting coupled with more than 30 million square feet of healthcare spaces designed across India, the Middle East, and Africa.
“HOSMAC is on a path to incorporate green design and management solutions in order to reduce the carbon footprints of hospitals. We prioritise that all the hospitals we collaborate with attain a minimum silver rating for eco-friendliness. Moreover, we create well-ventilated and naturally well-lit hospital environments that lead to reduced energy consumption,” Dr. Desai informs.
Dr. Desai further added that in order to raise the bar of the healthcare industry, one critical aspect is towards addressing the severe shortage of skilled human resources in healthcare. As highlighted by a report from the NITI Aayog, India needs to double its manpower of doctors, triple the number of nurses. It also needs to increase its paramedical manpower by five folds. To fulfill these requirements, the government should establish more medical colleges and paramedical institutes, especially in tier 3 and 4 towns. This will encourage individuals trained in healthcare to work locally, reducing the manpower gap, especially in underserved areas.
Furthermore, healthcare infrastructure development necessitates substantial investments. There is a need for Private-Public Partnership initiatives to actively contribute to building modern and efficient healthcare facilities, addressing the need for hardware and infrastructure in the healthcare industry.
Dr. Desai says that the future of healthcare in India is filled with promising opportunities. We should anticipate a substantial expansion in healthcare infrastructure to cater to the increasing demand. Telemedicine and digital health solutions will also continue to thrive, and a greater emphasis will be placed on preventive care and wellness programs. Moreover, rising healthcare costs and government-backed insurance schemes are expected to boost health insurance coverage. We will also see a surge in technological innovations, a commitment to sustainability, and the adoption of eco-friendly healthcare practices.
Some of the hospitals HOSMAC has worked with include Apollo Hospitals, CMC Vellore, Hinduja Hospital, Medanta – The Medicity, Asian Heart Institute, Narayana Health, Tata Memorial Centre, and Emirates Hospital in Dubai. It has also worked with organizations such as The World Bank, UNICEF, USAID and Mc Kinsey for research projects.
As per a NITI Aayog report, India’s healthcare industry has been growing at Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of around 22 per cent since 2016, with 2020 standing at 280 billion USD.
“There is a lot of untapped potential in our industry, the most important one being the pressing need for further developing healthcare facilities, especially in rural areas of India. Currently, the country has only 1.2 beds for every 1,000 people, while the ideal standard is to have as many as 3 beds per 1,000. We will play an important role to make this expectation come try by working with both public and private players to ramp up new hospitals. The healthcare field is undergoing major changes, and HOSMAC is actively keeping up with them. Hospitals are now expected to be more human-centric and sustainable, and we need to ensure this from the planning phase. Additionally, new technologies such as implementing 3D design technology through BIM (Building Intelligence Management) software or maintaining an EHR (Electric Health Records) is becoming crucial,” Dr. Desai concludes.
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