| MUMBAI:
Manipal Group has announced its foray into healthcare retail under the brand name
Manipal Cure and Care.
The new venture is formed with a seed capital
of Rs 500 million plans to set up 50 outlets in the next four years, with the
first two outlets coming up in Bangalore and Ahmedabad in July. While a total
of 10 will be functional by end of this fiscal, MCC is also planning to launch
outlets in NCR, Bombay, Pune, Hyderabad to name a few in current year, says an
official press release.
The Manipal Cure and Care retail outlets will
be established in two different formats across malls, mega-cites, health cities,
hyper market and high streets with a focus on customers who are time pressed.
Manipal
Education and Medical Group CEO Dr. Ranjan Pai said, "Retailing is the next
big industry that is taking off in India. We feel that there is a huge space in
the wellness, preventive and beauty and cosmetic care. We plan to integrate our
skills in healthcare to ride the wave of retail boom. As the Indian market matures,
and with more emphasis on preventive and wellness, we are confident that retail
healthcare will be viable business proposition. Going forward we will also look
at like minded people to join us as franchisees. "
Manipal Cure
and Care COO Somnath Das elaborated "There are plenty of things that will
be introduced for the first time in India . These include allergies, medical history,
past history, list of medication, emergency number, Cumulative Index of Medical
Specialties, Customer Charter, EMR , error proofing methodology to name a few.
Our offering will be a mix of services and products. MCC is also the first to
provide qualitative monitoring of healthcare by focusing on prevention and wellness,
not illness.? We aim at offering an in-house pharmacy that can cater to the neighbourhood
needs. " Manipal
Cure and Care has tied up with Oscar Murphy International to offer soft skills
training in retails, for doctors, nurses and paramedics. It is already working
with Australian standards of healthcare standards to bring in world class quality
management systems. | 
