The RG Stone Urology & Laparoscopy Hospital, the pioneer super specialty urology institute in Delhi, is planning to set up telemedicine facilities and satellite centres across the country within the year 2009. The hospital is carrying out the expansion projects in India by setting up specialty centres in various cities with a total investment of around Rs 80 crore (USD 20 million).

The institute is preparing a blueprint for the proposed telemedicine centres and information - satellite centres expected to provide primary opinion and information for the patients on urological related problems. The blueprint is expected to be ready by the end of March 2008 and 18 to 20 satellite centres would be launched within December 2008, said Hanish Bansal, executive director, RG Stone Urology & Laparoscopy Hospital.

"We have already prepared a list of cities and states where the satellite centres would be set up. All over India, there would be 25 to 30 satellite centres, to be set up in two phases," he informed. The telemedicine centres would be ready to serve the rural patients in the country by 2009. "According to our experience, the rural patients have to travel long to the nearest cities even to get an opinion on their problems. Our telemedicine service can approach these patients for providing opinion and primary information," he added. However, the official declined to reveal the fund allocated for the project.

With its existing tie-up with ICICI Venture, the institute is planning to open a state-of-the-art super specialty hospital in Goa and four speciality centres in tie up with leading hospitals, including S K Soni Hospital, Jaipur, Kamyani Hospital, Agra, Saguna Hospital, Bangalore and Ivy Hospital, Mohali. The projects, as the first phase of the institute's expansion plans with an investment of more than Rs 40 crore (USD 10 million), are expected to be complete in 2008.

The hospital has already launched the specialty centres in Bangalore & Jaipur recently while the other two projects are envisaged to be operational by September 2008, informed Bansal. "Each hospital will have a team of specialists in the field headed by a chief Urologist and a chief Laparoscopist. The manpower of the institution will be strengthened to 850-900 by Dec 2008," he added.

A fresh investment of Rs 40 crore (USD 10 million) would be infused for the second phase of expansion, expected to commence in March 2008. The expansion consists opening of fifteen more specialized centres, in various cities including Nashik, Mumbai, Surat, Aurangabad, Mysore and also in East and Central Delhi.

Besides, the institute, which has launched an information centre in Bangladesh on November 2007, is currently planning to open up information centres in Sri Lanka and Kenya due to the increasing demand and reference on the Urological problems from these countries. Keeping its mission to set new standards and best practices in urology and laparoscopy, the institute envisages introducing Robotic Surgery by 2010 in India, added the official.

In January 2008, the institute has announced tie up with leading medical equipment developer Lumenis to get all doctors buying and using Lumenis products trained in RG Stone Urological & Laparoscopic Hospital in India. The focus of the training program is effective use of Holmium Laser for enunciation of Prostate.