Registered as a charitable trust, the Prince Aly Khan Hospital is part of the Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS). Established in 1945, the Hospital is a 137-bed acute care, multi-speciality facility offering quality health care. The hospital has a contemporary ambience and comfortable patient accommodation, which, together with its emphasis on quality and safety, has earned itself the coveted ISO certification.
The Prince Aly Khan Hospital is equipped with a three-room operation theatre complex, an intensive care unit, an intensive cardiac care unit, a neonatal ICU, a renal dialysis unit and state of the art facilities in every department.
Over 125,000 outpatients are seen every year. Of these, 35,000 patients are seen by the Hospital's consultants on a non-fee paying basis.
In 2001, the Hospital was awarded the ISO 9002 (International Standardisation Organisation) certificate - perhaps the only one in Mumbai and Maharashtra to have such certification. This certification is awarded only when a hospital's clinical, diagnostic, administrative and support services conform to the ISO standards.
Originally known as the Ismailia General Hospital, the Prince Aly Khan Hospital began as a small, 16-bed facility in a rented flat at Dongri, Bombay, on 30 June 1945. The Hospital currently stands on the Aga Hall Estate, grounds donated by Prince Aly Khan, after whom the Hospital is named. Prince Aly Khan performed the foundation laying ceremony on 17 January 1955.
In 1958, the Hospital's services were made available to the public. Since 1976, it has been professionally managed. The Hospital has grown in recent years, expanding its services and upgrading its facilities in response to the growing demand for its services. Today it serves a wide cross-section of the Mumbai public.
The Hospital and primary medical centres are part of the Aga Khan health Services, which is one of the most comprehensive private not-for-profit health care systems in the developing world. It includes 325 health centres, dispensaries, hospitals, diagnostic centres and community health outlets. Building on the Ismaili Community's health care efforts in the first half of the 20th century, AKHS now provides primary health care and curative medical care in India, Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, and Syria. It includes five general hospitals, seven maternity homes/hospitals and 187 health centres/dispensaries.
From its base in Mumbai, the Community Health Division operates through a team of almost 1500 volunteers and 150 staff. Six Regional Health Boards and 32 Local Health Boards are responsible for programme implementation. The Local Health Boards manage preventive and promotive health services through outreach activities, which are delivered and implemented by lady health visitors and multi-purpose workers. There are a total of 281 health committees involved in health promotion and prevention which field staff visit regularly. There are 18 health centres, and two diagnostic centres. These facilities are located mainly in Gujarat.
The Community Health Division seeks to achieve its objectives by improving the health behaviour in relation to hygiene, use of oral rehydration, immunisation, maternal care, risk factors for preventable non-communicable diseases, tuberculosis, information and services for child spacing. In each region a systems approach with a three-tier service is being adopted, integrating primary care (promotive, preventive, and basic curative), developing facilities for diagnostic and emergency care, and a referral mechanism for hospital care.
AKHS activities are conducted in concert with other health-related activities of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). The overall aim is to raise the health status of people in India and elsewhere in the developing world. Emphasis, in current projects, is on strengthening health systems development.
The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) works with a variety of grantees, including AKHS, to improve the health of vulnerable population groups, especially mothers and children, and promote health services development on the national and regional levels.
The AKDN aims to assist countries in the building of effective, sustainable health systems linking different kinds of services and levels of care. For more information, please visit the akdn website.