Founder, Managing Director and CEO of People Tree Hospitals, Dr. Jothi Neeraja, has initiated the process to facilitate BlackRock’s exit from the hospital network. BlackRock had invested Rs. 210 crore ($24 million) in March this year—its first major healthcare investment in India—supporting People Tree’s expansion and strengthening of super-specialty services.
A first-generation entrepreneur and obstetrician-gynaecologist from Kadapa, Dr. Neeraja built People Tree through relentless commitment, personal sacrifice, and a focus on ethical, affordable care. From its early days to becoming a 300+ bed multispecialty institution, she has consistently upheld transparency, patient trust, and disciplined financial governance.
Her entrepreneurial journey features a remarkable track record—78 investor exits, timely exit delivered to Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan’s family office, and stewardship of BlackRock’s first hospital investment in the country.
With People Tree’s transition underway, Dr. Neeraja is now turning her attention to Maarga Mind Care, where she is working to scale a 1,000-bed, 25-hospital mental health network. The initiative aims to address India’s significant mental health treatment gap, estimated at 70–90%.
She highlights that India has already built strong super-specialty care across cardiology, urology, gastroenterology, oncology, and neurosciences, and emphasizes that the coming decade must focus on delivering the same quality and urgency in mental healthcare.
From navigating complex investor relationships to building ethical, high-quality hospitals and now taking on the challenge of nationwide mental health infrastructure, Dr. Jothi Neeraja exemplifies a purposeful and impact-driven model of healthcare leadership.
Founded in 2013, People Tree Hospitals has grown into a leading NABH-accredited multispecialty institution headquartered in Bengaluru, with more than 300 beds, a team of over 400 healthcare professionals, and centres of excellence spanning neurosciences, orthopaedics, cardiac sciences, gastrointestinal sciences, renal sciences, and critical care. The network operates multiple branches across Bengaluru—including Tumkur Road, Dasarahalli, and Banashankari—and extends its reach through community outreach across Karnataka.
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