The ApoKOS paediatric rehabilitation centre, a joint venture established in 2016 between KOS and Apollo Hospitals, one of India’s leading healthcare providers, was recently opened in Hyderabad.
This highly specialised facility is entirely dedicated to the developmental age, in particular children from 0 to 3 years old who suffer from neurological, neuropsychological development and autistic spectrum conditions.
A unique centre in the Indian metropolis, capital of the south-central state of Telangana, ApoKOS offers highly complex therapies and treatments through a multi-specialist approach. Patients and families are attended to by a team of paediatric neuropsychiatrists, physiatrists, neurologists, psychologists, psychomotricians, speech therapists and occupational therapists, with early diagnosis, counselling and rehabilitation.
‘Rehabilitation in the developmental age is even more complex than in adults: cognitive, motor and interpersonal skills are not yet fully structured in children. Rehabilitation must aim to regain the skills theoretically present in that age group and, at the same time, develop new ones, exploiting the child’s neuroplasticity. For this reason, it must be carried out by dedicated, specialised professionals, with a holistic approach that involves not only the child, but the entire family’, explained Dr Antonello Morgantini, member of the Board of Directors of ApoKOS and Medical Director of Santo Stefano Riabilitazione. ‘In the recently opened facility in Hyderabad, we apply our rehabilitation protocols to the treatment of neurological diseases, mainly related to the motor sphere, and to the care of children with autism spectrum disorders. At the moment, it’s an exclusively outpatient structure, with the aim of adding inpatient beds by the end of the year.’
The creation of the new centre is the result of the synergistic collaboration between different teams, in which the expertise of Santo Stefano Riabilitazione has made the difference in applying elevated quality standards in relation to therapies and protocols. ‘We have been operating in India since 2016, when the first ApoKOS rehabilitation centre in Hyderabad was opened. Our facility is able to treat patients in grave conditions with cranio-encephalic or orthopaedic trauma, as soon as they are released from the intensive care unit. The management of complex cases implies a high degree of specialisation, the use of state-of-the-art technology and multidisciplinary care, expertise that distinguishes our work in Italy and is unique in the Indian healthcare system. We currently can treat about 50 patients, not only from Hyderabad but also from the surrounding area, who have not found adequate treatment in other rehabilitation centres. The creation of a centre for children and adolescents is therefore one further step in the provision of rehabilitative therapies. For the important results achieved thus far, I would like to thank the entire Indian team, especially Dr Anirudh Chirania – Chief Operating Officer and physiatrist, Dr Subba Reddy – Medical Director and intensivist, Catalina Stefanescu – Organisation and Quality, Ashwini Shriniwasan – Marketing, and Paola Signoracci of the KOS Group Business Development Manager’, concluded Dr Morgantini.
