Fortis Healthcare Launches First Standalone Tertiary Mental Health Hospital in India

Just a few kilometres away from Fortis Healthcare’s flagship super speciality hospital in Gurugram, its new healthcare facility has been launched that marks a first for India’s mental health system. A standalone tertiary hospital dedicated exclusively to mental healthcare has opened in the city, a model that has not existed in the country so far. The 36-bedded facility, called Adayu, has been set up to function as a tertiary centre for complex and severe mental health conditions that require prolonged, multidisciplinary care. According to Fortis Healthcare, it is the first standalone tertiary hospital for mental health in India. Explaining the name, Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, managing director and chief executive officer of Fortis Healthcare, said Adayu combines the word “add" with the Hindi word “Ayu", meaning life or age. “In short, it reflects the idea of adding value to life," he told News18. Unlike psychiatry departments housed within multi-speciality hospitals, Adayu operates as an independent mental health facility. Fortis plans to open another such standalone hospital in Mohali, Punjab, and expand the model further, with a total of ten centres planned over the next three years, Raghuvanshi said. The launch comes at a time when India continues to face a significant mental health burden. According to the government estimates, one in every seven Indians is living with some form of mental disorder, while access to specialised services remains limited. Infrastructure shortages persist, with only about four psychiatric beds available per one lakh population. Studies suggest that between 70 and 90 per cent of people living with mental health conditions in India do not receive adequate treatment, due to a combination of limited services, stigma, and affordability constraints. The Gurugram hospital has dedicated wards for child and adolescent psychiatric conditions, including child psychosis, anorexia and other eating disorders, as well as adult units for obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and severe mood disorders. Treatment approaches include conventional psychiatric care along with newer interventions such as virtual reality-based therapy, artificial intelligence-enabled tools, and neuromodulation techniques, including magnetic stimulation. Outpatient consultation charges at the hospital start at Rs 1,500 for a 15-minute session, while in-patient admission charges begin at Rs 18,000. The facility is designed to admit patients requiring inpatient care for acute psychiatric illnesses as well as those needing long-term rehabilitation. “Admissions will include people suffering from severe depressive disorders, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, substance abuse and de-addiction needs, as well as patients requiring structured rehabilitation where medication alone is not sufficient," said Dr Samir Parikh, psychiatrist, and head of Adayu. According to Parikh, care plans are structured around a combination of medication, therapy, and lifestyle interventions, depending on individual clinical needs. Patient safety and privacy have been factored into the hospital’s physical design. Entry to floors housing patient rooms is restricted, with access permitted only through card-based systems. Admission rooms have been constructed in line with suicide prevention guidelines, including closed balconies, fan-less ceilings and other structural safeguards aimed at reducing self-harm risks. At the same time, the hospital’s interiors have been designed to avoid an institutional feel. Common spaces and patient rooms have been laid out to resemble a residential environment, with the stated aim of reducing stress associated with hospitalisation. Floors are named after flowers, and patient rooms include standard residential furnishings such as beds, lamps and carpets. Admissions, Parikh said, will be decided in accordance with provisions of India’s Mental Healthcare Act, which lays down safeguards related to consent, patient rights and legal oversight. On how clinical outcomes will be assessed, he said evaluations would follow standard medical practice. “The efficacy will be evaluated based on whether the person is able to return to normal life or achieve the best possible level of functioning," he said. Affordability remains a broader challenge in mental healthcare. Parikh said insurance coverage for psychiatric treatment continues to evolve. “The insurance sector is under evolution," he said, adding that healthcare providers and insurers would need to work together to create frameworks that ensure mental illnesses are adequately covered under health insurance policies. As mental health increasingly enters policy and public health discussions in India, the rollout of a standalone tertiary care model will likely be closely watched — both for its clinical outcomes and for what it signals about the future direction of mental healthcare infrastructure in the country. According to Dr Mantosh Kumar, chief clinical services senior consultant at Adayu, the top five signs for people to spot mental illness and decide that they need professional help include changes in sleep pattern. “One of the biological functions of the body is sleep. Any changes in sleep pattern, whether it is reduced sleep or excessive sleep, disturbed sleep with frequent awakening or waking up 2-3 hours before their usual time of getting up could be a sign of mental illness." Similarly changes in diet, Kumar said, either eating very less or eating a lot more for a couple of days leading to either loss of body weight or sudden gain in body weight; both can be a sign of mental illness. “Someone who starts to isolate themselves suddenly, being aloof or not wanting to engage in regular conversations is another sign of mental health condition." Also, sudden drop in performance either at school or at work, or not being able to perform daily chores is one of the signs that one should look out for. Swipe Left For Next Video “Another aspect is either sudden onset of substance use or for someone to use more than what they were using earlier hence leading to dysfunction in regular life."