Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Limited (AHEL) and Lanka Hospitals Corporation Limited (LHCL) signed a five year (subject to periodic medical audits conducted by Apollo) licensing and support services agreement yesterday to start a fresh partnership between the two companies.

It may be noted that Apollo Hospitals had ended its four-year's direct presence in Sri Lanka earlier by announcing an exit from the joint venture. Apollo sold its entire stake in Lanka Hospitals Corporation following an open offer made by Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation.

Under the new agreement between the AHEL and LHCL, the new board of directors of LHCL will have control over the operational management of the Apollo Hospital in Colombo. However the name will be retained as the brand name maintains the highest standards of service delivery.

LHC has also requested assistance from AHEL for obtaining accreditation from the Joint Commission International for Apollo Hospitals Colombo. For this purpose a senior team of doctors from Apollo will be assisting and advising LHCL for implementing continuous and systematic improvement in the hospital's performance and outcomes of patient care on all measurable elements, before the stringent evaluation process.

Apollo will also be assisting LHCL with the recruitment of medical personnel as and when required. Specialists in various disciplines, consultants, surgeons, nurses and other medical staff to be employed would be recruited by Apollo.

"We will be employing as many people as they need, there is no shortage of manpower here," said Dr Prathap C Reddy, chairman of AHEL. In addition to this top medical consultants from Apollo Hospitals in India will be conducting periodic surgical camps in collaboration with the Colombo hospital for patients who cannot afford treatment out of Srilanka.

Chairman of Srilanka Insurance Corporation, H Jayawardhane, said that the swapping of investments between the two institutions would be considered when the right opportunity arises.

Over the last few months LHCL had seen a significant restructuring in the board of directors and in the operations of Apollo Hospital, Colombo. On request from the LHCL AHEL had agreed to support the medical team of the hospital for a brief time so as to enable smooth transition.

Pursuant to theses events however the newly constituted board of directors of LHCL reviewed the operations of the hospital and deemed it essential to have an affiliation with AHEL.

Speaking to Pharmabiz, Reddy said that Apollo Hospitals will be requesting the Srilankan government to provide free land to relocate the nursing college, which is at present being run in a rented building. This move will encourage more number of students to take up nursing.

"A vast majority of the nursing students get employed, there is less chances for a nursing student to be without getting a job. Moreover it is estimated that by 2030 the demand for nurses in USA will be close to one million," said Reddy.