JSW Sanjeevani Multispecialty Hospital

According to a study in 2019, around 86 per cent of medical visits in India are from individuals living in rural areas, with a majority needing to travel over 100 kilometres to reach available healthcare facilities.¹ The same study states that although 73 per cent of the nation’s populace live in rural areas, they have access to only 25 per cent of all healthcare facilities, which means that the remaining majority of medical resources are located in cities.

The lack of facilities outside of large cities has led to gaps in important health indicators; on average, people living in India’s rural regions have a life expectancy of five years less than those of urban dwellers. This is symptomatic of the larger issue of healthcare disparity faced by India’s rural communities.

One such example can be found in the Raigad district in the state of Maharashtra. The district is known for its nascent industrial areas, being strategically located near the megacity of Mumbai, India’s commercial centre. Raigad is considered to have good road infrastructure with state-owned bus services.² However, the same cannot yet be said for its healthcare—the district government’s website only lists two public hospitals,³ and private facilities often take the form of clinics with limited bed capacity and basic equipment.⁴ When the level of care needed cannot be provided by local facilities, patients are referred to hospitals in Mumbai,⁵ approximately two hours away. The long distance and travel time make it far from ideal for urgent cases or people who need recurrent specialist care.

---

BRIDGING THE HEALTHCARE GAP

Located as part of the steel industrial complex in Dolvi village in Raigad, the JSW Sanjeevani Multispeciality Hospital has been established to bridge the healthcare gap in the village and beyond. Dolvi is strategic in that it is situated along a national highway and the Mumbai-Goa highway, easing people’s access to the hospital. Since completed in 2021, it has offered more than 13 specialised consultancies based on the local people’s primary medical requirements.

According to the architects, the treatment prices are competitive with the tariffs of the local healthcare facilities, and free services are also offered under several government schemes. The hospital has reportedly created local employment: more than 235 people were employed from nearby villages, and 99 per cent of the hospital staff, including the specialist doctors, live within a 5-kilometre radius.

To ensure that healthcare services reach the grassroots community, the hospital conducts over 20 medical camps on a monthly basis with an average participation of approximately 150 people, covering 15 gram panchayats (village councils).

“A rural hospital has the potential to become a community hub. It must welcome people, create a sense of trust and an atmosphere of healing. Unlike urban hospitals that tend to be fear-inducing sterile boxes that do not connect with the outdoors, we have designed this hospital to facilitate holistic healing and well-being—physical, social and psychological”, the architects wrote to FuturArc.

[This is an excerpt. Subscribe to the digital edition or hardcopy to read the complete article.]

---

PROJECT DATA

---

Read more stories from FuturArc 1Q 2024: Health/Wellness!

---

¹ https://ballardbrief.byu.edu/issue-briefs/healthcare-access-in-rural-communities-in-india
² https://raigad.gov.in/en/how-to-reach/
³ https://raigad.gov.in/en/public-utility-category/hospitals/
⁴ Neglected, critical: Raigad’s rural healthcare remains in urban shadows (https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/neglected-critical-raigad-s-rural-healthcare-remains-in-urban-shadows/story-Ugqm60ktDSowjy5SeIkDBM.html)
⁵ Ibid.