Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi

History and background

Amrita Hospital in Ponekkara, Kochi, formerly the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), was founded on 17 May 1998 by Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma) as a multi-specialty tertiary referral and teaching hospital. It was awarded the FICCI National Healthcare Excellence Award for the best hospital in the country in 2013 and two further FICCI awards in 2016 for patient safety and innovation in medical technology. It is accredited by NABH, with laboratories accredited by NABL.

Specialities and centres of excellence

The hospital has 29 speciality departments and 17 centres of excellence, supported by about 670 faculty members and 4,000 support staff, and serves more than a million outpatients and over 70,000 inpatients annually. Milestones include Kerala's first simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplant (2014), South Asia's first bilateral hand transplant (2015) and, in 2021, the first double upper-limb transplant using HEMO2life graft preservation technology, its ninth such surgery. Services range from transfusion medicine and urology to craniomaxillofacial surgery and dermatology and cosmetology.

Technology and facilities

The hospital has about 1,100 to 1,450 beds according to different sources, making it one of the largest in South India. It sits in a large campus in Ponekkara, Kochi.

International patients

Amrita has a dedicated team coordinating international patient treatment, with support for medical visas and accommodation, pre-visit medical opinions on treatment and costs, and multilingual interpretation.

How AlisPro MediTours supports your treatment

AlisPro MediTours is a medical travel coordination service, not a hospital. We do not provide medical treatment, and clinical decisions always rest with your treating doctors. What we do is make the journey to this hospital easier to plan and less stressful to manage.

After you send your medical reports through our enquiry form, our coordinators share them with the hospital's international patient team and help you obtain a written opinion and an estimated cost. If you decide to go ahead, we can help with the medical visa invitation letter, flight planning, airport pickup, accommodation near the hospital, local transport, interpreter support and appointment scheduling. During your stay we stay in touch with you and your family, and after you return home we help arrange follow-up consultations and access to your records.

Costs, package inclusions and waiting times vary by hospital, doctor and treatment, so we recommend asking for a written estimate that clearly states what is and is not included.

Before you travel

Preparation makes a big difference to how smoothly a medical trip goes. Gather your recent medical reports, imaging (with the discs or digital files), a list of current medicines and any previous operation summaries, and share them early so the hospital can give a realistic opinion before you travel.

Ask the hospital or your coordinator for the expected length of stay, the likely total cost and what it includes, whether a family member may accompany you, and what follow-up will be needed after you return home. Confirm the treating doctor's name, the accreditation of the department you will use and how emergencies are handled.

Most international patients enter India on a medical visa, which normally requires an invitation letter from the hospital. Check the validity of your passport, arrange travel insurance that covers medical travel where possible, and plan for extra days in case treatment or recovery takes longer than expected. Keep copies of all documents on your phone and in your luggage.

Travel guide: Kochi

Kochi is served by Cochin International Airport, roughly 25 to 40 minutes from the city, and the city has a Metro, taxis, ride-hailing apps and ferries across the backwaters. Hotels and serviced apartments are available near the main hospitals, and Kochi is a popular place to combine recovery with a quiet stay in Kerala's backwaters region. The climate is tropical, with the monsoon from June to September, and the most comfortable months run from November to February. Malayalam and English are widely spoken.