Kochi to get country's first health mall

A one-stop solution for all medical and health needs -- from doctors, hospitals, ayurveda centres, pharmacies and even insurance referral units -- will open in a 10-storied mall in this Kerala city.

The BCG group, a Rs.500-crore business conglomerate, is building the country's first multidisciplinary health mall here and it will be open by August, a company official said Thursday.

Spread over 110,000-square feet, the mall will include retail stores dealing with pharmacy, optical ware, skin care products, cosmetics, ayurvedic, herbal, organic, health foods, health and medical equipment, Rekha C. Babu, CEO of BCG Group, told reporters.

A separate floor will be for allied services where medical colleges, hospitals, ayurvedic centres and insurance companies can set up their referral centres.

'Medical colleges that want to inform students about its facilities or a hospital which wants to educate people on latest treatment procedures can also use this space,' she said.

The fourth and fifth floors will have wellness clinics and rejuvenation centres.

'Six more multiple malls under the brand name BCG Health Square will come up across the state in the next five years. Such health malls are found in Singapore, Malaysia, the US and Europe,' she added.

The BCG Health Square will have 44 rooms in the sixth and seventh floors and private clinics on the eighth, ninth and 10th floors.

These spaces can accommodate doctors who want to set up their own independent practices with the option of utilizing centralized services like patient management desk, secretarial assistance and call monitoring managed by the company, she said.

There will also be adequate parking space.

The BCG Group was founded by Babu C. George in 1980 and forayed into real estate business in 2003.

The company has developed more than 8.5 million square feet of commercial and residential projects across Kerala, a company statement said.

The group has also diversified into education and healthcare sectors, it said.