Ujala Cygnus Hospital: The Challenges of being a Good Samaritan in Healthcare

This case explores the journey of Dr. Shuchin Bajaj and Ujala Cygnus Hospitals (UCH) in delivering affordable tertiary care in India's underserved Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, where challenges such as limited clinical personnel, low technology adoption, and socioeconomic barriers prevail. Motivated by personal tragedy, Bajaj founded UCH to provide tertiary care to these regions, adopting innovative business models like cross-subsidization, outsourcing, and an asset-light strategy to offer low-cost services. However, UCH's primary revenue source-government healthcare schemes-caused cash flow issues due to delayed reimbursements, while patients faced high out-of-pocket expenses. With over INR 1 billion owed to the hospital at any time, Bajaj faced a critical decision whether to expand into more locations where healthcare was desperately needed or focus on resolving existing operational and financial challenges. This case provides insight into the complexities of scaling healthcare services in resource-constrained environments, fostering discussions on business model innovation, managing growth with sustainability in emerging markets.

Learning Objectives