HYDERABAD: The Apollo Hospitals Group was part of a rare event on Saturday that few corporate houses in India might have witnessed: The rise of the grandson in the business even while the grandfather is at the helm of affairs.
Apollo Group chairman Dr Prathap C. Reddy introduced his grandson Harshad Reddy, son of his elder daughter and Apollo MD Preetha Reddy, to the media.
Mr Harshad Reddy has been made one of the directors of Apollo Group’s new home-based healthcare business — Apollo Homecare.
Speaking to this newspaper, Mr Harshad Reddy said he would be responsible for guiding the operations of the newly launched Apollo Homecare. With him, three generations of Dr Reddy’s family would be running the Apollo healthcare businesses.
Apollo Homecare would provide home-based healthcare to the elderly, chronically ill patients, post-surgery recovery patients and home speciality care.
Dr Prathap Reddy said, “With the expotential growth in diseases, India faces acute shortage of beds. The country requires an additional one lakh beds. Post-operative care at home would release so-me of beds for others.”
Currently, Apollo Homecare services are available in Hyderabad, Delhi and Chennai. “By the end of this year, it will extended to three more tier-1 cities — Mu-mbai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. We will start these services in 10 more tier-2 cities by the end of 2016. After the experience gained from tier-2 cities, we will launch the services in further smaller cities,” said Dr Mahesh Joshi, chief executive officer of Apollo Homecare.
Raising concerns over the growing geriatric population in India, Dr Prathap Reddy said the elderly parents both domestic and NRI dependents need care with utmost sensitivity and regular monitoring to avoid falls at home and also for better management of pre-existing conditions.
He also stated that remote monitoring through technology would play a significant role in home based healthcare services.
