Healthcare in Chennai is provided by both government-run and private hospitals. Chennai attracts about 45 percent of health tourists from abroad arriving in the country and 30 to 40 percent of domestic health tourists. The city has been termed Health Capital of India. Multi- and super-specialty hospitals across the city bring in an estimated 150 international patients every day. Factors behind the tourists' inflow in the city include low costs, little to no waiting period, and facilities offered at the speciality hospitals in the city.
History
The medical lineage of the city began with the first hospital of India set up at Fort St. George on 16 November 1664 by Sir Edward Winter to treat sick soldiers of the East India Company. The hospital grew, expanded, and moved out of the fort to its present location in 1772, where it stands today as the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, and was opened to Indians in 1842. In 1785, medical departments were set up in Bengal, Madras, and Bombay presidencies with 234 surgeons.
Although the Western system of medicine was brought to India by the Portuguese, the base for a systematised and widespread network of government-run hospitals began with the hospital in Madras, as the city was known then. Throughout the colonial era, doctors from Europe and Eurasia trained and practised at the first hospital. Between 1800 and 1820, about four hospitals were formed in Madras. In 1835, Madras Medical College was set up, making it one of the oldest colleges of European medicine in Asia. In 1854, when the British government agreed to supply medicines and instruments to the growing network of minor hospitals and dispensaries, government store depots were established in Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, and Rangoon. In 1900, the Christian Medical College, Vellore was established, attracting some of the best talents in the United States. By 1933, Dr. Mehta's Hospitals was established. The Madras Public Health Act, the first of its kind in the country, was passed in 1939.
In the later half of the twentieth century, many prominent institutions began to appear in the city. The Cancer Institute in Adyar was set up in 1954, Voluntary Health Services hospital, Chennai was established in 1958 and Sankara Nethralaya was founded in 1976, adding to the city's reputation. Along with the Government General Hospital they served as renowned centres for diagnosis, treatment and research for decades. The establishment of the Apollo Hospital in the city in 1983 marked the advent of corporate hospitals in the country. The city is where one of the earliest paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) was established in the 1990s.
Today, Chennai is the hub of medical tourism in the country, an industry that is expected to grow at an estimated 30% per year, which is expected to become worth about 95,000 million by 2015, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India.
Healthcare institutes
The government-aided hospitals in the city include General Hospital, Government multi-super speciality hospital, Government Kilpauk Hospital, Government Royapettah Hospital, Government Stanley Hospital, Adyar Cancer Institute, TB Sanatorium, and National Institute of Siddha. The National Institute of Siddha is one of the seven apex national-level educational institutions that promote excellence in Indian system of medicine and Ayurveda. Non-profit hospitals in the city include Voluntary Health Services Hospital and the Hindu Mission Hospital. Some of the popular private-run hospitals in Chennai are Dr. Rela Institute & Medical Centre, Apollo Hospitals, SIMS Hospital, Dr. Kamakshi Memorial Hospitals, Chettinad Health City, Billroth Hospitals, MIOT Hospital, Global Health City, SRM Hospital, Vasan Healthcare, Kauvery Hospital, Deepam Pallavaram Hospital, Dr. Mohan's Diabetes Specialities Centre and OneHealth Super Speciality Hospital. The prime NABH-accredited hospitals includes Chennai Apollo Speciality Hospital, Dr Mehta Hospitals, Frontier Lifeline Hospital, Global Hospitals & Health City, Sankara Nethralaya, and Vijaya Medical & Educational Trust. Apollo Hospitals Group has five hospitals in the city, including a main hospital and a speciality oncology hospital, with a total bed count of 1,100. The city has about seven palliative care units. Poonamallee High Road, one of the arterial roads of the city, has more hospitals than any other roads in the city and is known as the city's 'Med street'.As of 2012, the city had an estimated 12,500 hospital beds, of which only half is used by the city's population with the rest being shared by patients from other states of the country and foreigners. It is estimated that the number of beds in multi-specialty hospitals in the private sector in the city is in the range of 5,000 beds, whereas in the public sector it is over 6,000 beds. This works to 2.1 beds per 1,000 population against the national average of less than 1 bed per 1,000 population, making the city better than other cities in the country, viz., Delhi (1.4), Mumbai (0.8), Kolkata (0.8), Hyderabad (1.5) and Bangalore (2.1). However, this still does not fulfil World Health Organization norms of three beds per 1,000 persons. By mid-2012, with the addition of at least 3,000 beds in four leading hospitals in the city, the private hospital sector in the city is expected to increase its bed strength by nearly 25 percent. As of 2019, four government hospitals have pay wards, namely, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (198 beds), Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Government Hospital for Women and Children (46 beds), Government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women and Children (32 beds), and Gastrointestinal Bleed Centre of Government Stanley Medical College Hospital (58 beds). The occupancy rates in these pay wards was 90 to 100 percent.
According to Chennai Corporation sources, there are about 250 registered laboratories in the city, although there are almost thrice as many unregistered ones. The city has six units of the state government's co-operative drug stores across the state known as Kamadhenu co-operative medical stores, where a wide range of 13,000 important medicines would be sold, including 6,000 medicines available on any given day. The government is planning to add 10 more stores in the city.
In May 2011, Corporation of Chennai initiated an online direct health-reporting system under which all the hospitals in the city are required to provide details of the patients on a daily basis to the corporation.
+ List of major hospitals in ChennaiInstituteHospital typeLocality EstablishedChief specialtyNumber of beds NotesVoluntary Health Services hospital, ChennaiNon-profit hospitalTharamani Rajiv Gandhi Salai Old Mahabalipuram Road Chennai1958Multi-Speciality Hospital & Research institute218Pioneers in many healthcare researchGovernment General HospitalGovernmentPark Town1664General medicine 2,029The first medical institution in IndiaDr. Mehta's HospitalsPrivateChetpet, Velappanchavadi1933Multi Specialty Tertiary CareDr. Rela Institute & Medical CentrePrivateChromepet2018Multi Specialty 450A quaternary care hospital known for its expertise in liver transplantation and oncologyVijaya HospitalPrivateVadapalani1972Multi Specialty 750Multi Specialty Hospital in ChennaiSIMS HospitalPrivateVadapalani2014Multi Super Specialty Quaternary Care345Corporate Hospital established by SRM GroupGovernment multi-super speciality hospitalGovernmentGovernment Estate2014General medicine 400Originally built as an assembly complex but later converted into a hospitalDr. Mohan's Diabetes Specialities CentrePrivate Gopalapuram1991DiabetesGovernment Royapettah HospitalGovernmentRoyapettah1911General medicine 712Government Stanley HospitalGovernmentVallalar Nagar1799General medicine 1,271Kilpauk Medical College HospitalGovernmentKilpauk1960General medicine 515Perambur railway hospitalGovernmentAyanavaram1928General medicine 505Institute of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Hospital for Women & ChildrenGovernmentEgmoreObstetrics & Gynaecology and Paediatrics 752Institute of Child Health & Hospital for ChildrenGovernmentEgmore1948Paediatrics 537Government Institute of Mental HealthGovernmentKilpauk1794Neurology1,800Second largest mental health institute in IndiaGovernment Peripheral Hospital, K. K. NagarGovernmentK. K. Nagar1977General medicine100Government Peripheral Hospital, TondiarpetGovernmentTondiarpet1979General medicine100Government Peripheral Hospital, Anna NagarGovernmentAnna Nagar1979General medicine100Regional Institute of Ophthalmology and Government Ophthalmic HospitalGovernmentEgmore1819Ophthalmology478Government Institute of Rehabilitation MedicineGovernmentK. K. Nagar197960Government Hospital of Thoracic MedicineGovernmentTambaram Sanatorium1920Thoracic medicine776Raja Sir Ramasamy Mudaliar Lying-In HospitalGovernmentRoyapuram1880510Voluntary Health ServicesPrivateTaramani1958465Government Kasthuribai Gandhi HospitalGovernmentChepauk695Institute of Thoracic Medicine, ChetputGovernmentChetput1916Thiruvetreeswarar Hospital for Thoracic Medicine, OtteriGovernmentOtteriTamil Nadu Government Dental College and HospitalGovernmentGeorge Town1953Adyar Cancer InstituteAdyar1954Oncology423Rated by the World Health Organization as the top-ranking centre in the countryApollo HospitalsGreams Road1983First corporate hospital in the countryChettinad Health CityCorporateKelambakkam2007600Fortis Malar HospitalCorporateAdyar161Hindu Mission HospitalNGOTambaram1982220LIMA (Lifeline Institute of Minimal Access) Keyhole SurgeryCorporateKilpauk1932Keyhole Surgery (since 1997)100Started as an individual-owned clinicMGM HealthcarePrivateAminjikaraiGeneral medicine 400Madras Medical MissionMugappair1987207National Institute of SiddhaTambaram2005120OneHealth Super Speciality HospitalPrivateVandalur2022Multi Speciality Tertiary Care65Sankara Nethralaya1978Sir Ivan Stedeford HospitalAmbattur1966212Sri Ramachandra Medical CollegePorur1985>1,500Sundaram Medical FoundationAnna Nagar1990Dr. Kamakshi Memorial HospitalsCorporatePallikaranai, Velachery & Chennai2005300Performed more than 45000+ critical surgeriesMIOT HospitalPrivateManapakkam1999Orthopaedics and Traumatology1000 Honorary degree for MIOT MD – The HinduPerformed more than 30,000 joint replacement surgeriesA celebration of Chennai's orthopaedic milestones - The HinduBillroth HospitalsCorporateShenoy Nagar, RA Puram and Tiruvallur1990600Balaji Dental and Craniofacial HospitalTeynampet199425Deepam Pallavaram HospitalPallavaram1995Trauma Care>135 to 250Apollo HospitalsPrivate21 Greams Lane, Off, Greams Road, Thousand Lights1983Multi Specialty Tertiary Care560
Home healthcare Home healthcare and home nursing are also a growing phenomena in India. India Home Health Care is one such service provider, based in Chennai and Bangalore with over 300 nurses. Since 2014, on-demand platforms like "Treat at Home" app are providing services like doctor home visit, nursing, caretaking and physiotherapy to patients at home by connecting them with their nearest available providers.
Medical education The city has four government medical colleges and one ESI medical college, apart from private medical colleges. The four government-run colleges include Madras Medical College, Stanley Medical College, Kilpauk Medical College, and Omandurar Government Medical College.
Medical tourism