Community-centric micro hospitals can help fight India’s NCD crises, say experts

New Delhi, Dec 27 Micro hospitals, which replace fragmented tertiary models with specialist-led coordinated care and reduced wait times, can play a crucial role in the country’s fight against the rising epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), said experts on Saturday.

NCDs, which include diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and obesity, affect over million in India and are behind 63 per cent of all deaths, as per the WHO data.

The rising burden of NCDs is also affecting the healthcare system.

Hospital bed density lags at just 0.55 per 1,000 population -- far below the WHO's 3 per 1,000 benchmarks -- leading to overcrowded facilities, long wait times, and variability in care quality.

“India has the doctors and the technology, but what we truly lack is continuous, coordinated care. And large tertiary hospitals are often designed for acute crises, not the long-term, community-centred management that NCDs require,” said Dr Jagdish Prasad, Former Director General Health Services (DGHS), while addressing the HEAL OneHealth Connect Series.

“Micro-hospitals represent a necessary structural correction, bringing consultations, diagnostics, and follow-ups under one roof to restore the lost trust between patients and providers,” he added.

The ‘Micro-Hospital’ model is emerging as a new blueprint designed to bridge the accessibility and quality gap. Unlike smaller nursing homes, these are purpose-built, specialist-led facilities that offer 360-degree care -- from advanced diagnostics to surgical interventions -- closer to residential communities.

This prevents the ‘patient shuffling’ that typically occurs when patients are forced to navigate multiple laboratories and clinics for a single diagnosis.

“Patients today are overwhelmed by the scale and cold complexity of large hospitals. Micro-hospitals bring back the essentials -- time, communication, and coordination -- ensuring that care is not just delivered efficiently but experienced meaningfully,” said Dr. Mohsin Wali, Padma Shri Awardee, and Senior Consultant, at a leading Delhi-based hospital.

The micro-hospital framework can provide patient care in the early stages, and provide specialised intervention before it becomes a life-threatening emergency, said the experts.

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