R ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, AUG 4
When liver disease begins silently, the battle is often lost before symptoms become impossible to ignore. Seeking to move liver care from late-stage intervention to early detection and coordinated treatment, Gleneagles Hospital, Perumbakkam, Chennai, part of the Fortis Healthcare Network, has unveiled an Advanced Liver OPD Suite, positioning the facility as a high-capacity multidisciplinary hub covering the entire spectrum of liver disorders—from newborn genetic conditions to adult liver cancer and transplantation.
The new facility was inaugurated by RJ Balaji, actor, director, radio jockey and philanthropist, in the presence of Anil Vinayak, Group Chief Operating Officer, Fortis Healthcare; Dr. S. Niranjani, Chief Operating Officer & Hospital Head, Gleneagles Hospital, Chennai; Dr. Joy Varghese, Director – Hepatology & Transplant Hepatology, Gleneagles Hospital, Chennai; and Dr. Biswarup Pal, Head of Medical Services, Gleneagles Hospital, Chennai.
- One roof, one multidisciplinary team: Advanced Liver OPD brings paediatric, adult, oncology, metabolic and transplant care together
- From newborn genetic disorders to liver cancer and transplantation, Chennai facility targets the entire disease spectrum
- Hospital crosses 700 liver transplants in seven years, reinforcing its position as a major liver-care centre
- RJ Balaji urges annual Master Health Check-ups after 30, warns youth against tobacco and liquor
- ‘Fibroscan’ emerges as an early-warning tool as Gleneagles takes free liver screening to remote areas under CSR
- Fortis Healthcare signals continued expansion, with Anil Vinayak saying right acquisition opportunities will be pursued at the appropriate time
The launch assumes significance at a time when liver disease is no longer confined to conventional risk factors such as viral hepatitis and alcohol-related cirrhosis, with metabolic disorders, obesity, diabetes, genetic conditions and liver cancers adding new layers of complexity to the disease burden.
From infancy to transplant: One integrated liver-care destination
The Advanced Liver OPD Suite has been conceived as a single clinical gateway where patients can access evaluation, diagnosis, medical management, interventional procedures, surgery and transplant-related care through a coordinated multidisciplinary system.
The facility brings together specialised paediatric hepatology and paediatric liver transplantation for infants and children; comprehensive management of metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and other metabolic liver disorders; an integrated hepatorenal care pathway for patients with simultaneous liver and kidney failure, including simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation; dedicated liver oncology services for primary and secondary liver cancers; and specialised pathways for children affected by inherited genetic disorders involving the liver.
The upgraded OPD builds on Gleneagles Hospital’s established liver-care and transplantation programme, with the hospital having performed more than 700 liver transplants over the past seven years.
Putting the changing face of liver disease in perspective, Anil Vinayak, Group Chief Operating Officer, Fortis Healthcare said:
“The profile of liver disease in India has changed dramatically over the last decade. Today, we are seeing far more than viral hepatitis or alcohol-related cirrhosis. There is a growing burden of metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease linked to obesity and diabetes, inherited liver disorders presenting in infancy, primary and secondary liver cancers, and complex conditions such as hepatorenal syndrome, where multiple organs are affected simultaneously. These are not conditions that can be managed through a conventional outpatient model. They demand rapid diagnosis, coordinated decision-making, and the expertise of multiple specialists working together. That is precisely what this upgraded Liver OPD Suite has been designed to deliver, a high-capacity, integrated clinical system that streamlines the patient journey from evaluation and diagnosis to advanced medical, interventional, surgical, and transplant care, ensuring that patients receive the right treatment at the right time.”
‘Transplant is often the final step’: Earlier detection takes centre stage
Dr. Joy Varghese, Director – Hepatology & Transplant Hepatology, Gleneagles Hospital, Chennai said the new facility was designed to ensure that transplantation would not become the first point of meaningful intervention in a patient’s long journey with liver disease.
“Our transplant outcomes over the past seven years have given us a strong clinical foundation. But transplantation is often the final step in a much longer patient journey. This upgraded Liver OPD Suite has been created to identify liver disease earlier, provide comprehensive care at every stage and deliver seamless treatment for patients of every age, from newborns with genetic liver disorders to adults with liver cancer, all within a single, coordinated system. Our vision is to build the region’s most advanced clinical ecosystem for liver disease, one that is equipped not only to manage the complex conditions we treat successfully today, but also the emerging challenges of tomorrow, as metabolic liver disease, genetic diagnostics, precision medicine, and early cancer detection continue to evolve. Every new medical, interventional, or surgical advancement we introduce in the future will be integrated into this OPD, giving patients a single point of access to a multidisciplinary team with a proven track record of managing some of the country’s most complex liver cases.”
Dr. Joy Varghese, speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration, underlined the importance of preventive screening and said the launch of the Liver OPD was “the first step in the right direction in preventing care of Fortis Healthcare.”
Appealing to the public to detect liver disease before it advances, he said people should undergo ‘Fibroscan’, which costs around Rs. 5,000 in major hospitals.
He added that as part of its CSR initiative, Gleneagles Hospital is conducting free screening camps, including Fibroscan, in remote areas, taking preventive liver-care services closer to communities that may otherwise struggle to access specialised diagnostic facilities.
RJ Balaji’s health alert: ‘Check yourself after 30’
The inauguration also carried a strong public-health message, with RJ Balaji calling for a culture of preventive health rather than waiting for illness to announce itself.
Interacting with the media after the inauguration, RJ Balaji appealed to people to undergo a Master Health Check-up every year after the age of 30 to keep themselves healthy.
He also made a special appeal to young people to stay away from tobacco and liquor, stressing the need for healthier lifestyle choices at an age when many long-term health risks begin to take shape.
His message added a preventive dimension to the launch of the Advanced Liver OPD, shifting the spotlight from treating advanced disease to identifying health risks early and acting before irreversible damage sets in.
The hospital and its liver-care specialists emphasised that such early intervention assumes growing importance amid the increasing prevalence of metabolic liver disease associated with obesity and diabetes, alongside viral, genetic, oncological and alcohol-related liver disorders.
Fortis keeps expansion window open
Replying to a query from navjeevanexpress.com, Fortis Healthcare Group Chief Operating Officer Anil Vinayak said the group continued to remain open to expansion opportunities.
“The group is always looking for expansion and will transform right opportunities for new acquisitions at an appropriate time.”
The statement signals that Fortis Healthcare continues to keep strategic expansion and acquisitions on its radar, while evaluating opportunities based on the right fit and timing.
Chennai’s liver-care legacy gets a fresh boost
Gleneagles Hospital, Chennai, has emerged as a major centre for liver transplantation, ranking number one in Tamil Nadu for liver transplantation under the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme, with more than 200 transplants performed under the scheme.
Its Institute of Liver Disease & Transplantation was recognised as the ‘Best Liver Transplant Team’ by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 2019.
The hospital has also recorded several national and global milestones, including what it describes as the world’s first paediatric combined living-donor kidney and liver transplantation for a child with Primary Hyperoxaluria Type II, besides multiple first-in-India liver transplant procedures for rare and complex conditions.
The new Advanced Liver OPD Suite seeks to build on that legacy by bringing the entire continuum of liver care into a single coordinated ecosystem—where prevention, early diagnosis, advanced treatment, oncology, paediatric care, critical care and transplantation converge.
At its core, the message from the new facility is simple but consequential: the best liver transplant is not necessarily the one performed at the end of the disease journey, but the one that can be prevented through timely detection, disciplined lifestyle choices and early treatment.
Gleneagles launches ‘Fellowship in Transplant Nursing’
RJ Balaji also inaugurated the ‘Fellowship in Nursing’ programme by the Gleneagles Hospital in the presence of dignatories. The programme was initiated by Dr C Immanuel, Director – Academic and Research, Gleneagles Hospital. The brochure on the fellowship programme was by RJ Balaji and the senior management team of Gleneagles Hospital.
