KUALA LUMPUR: IHH Healthcare Bhd
will continue to look for acquisitions to grow its operations as well as maximising capacity by allocating more beds in its hospitals.
In its Malaysian operations, chief executive officer (CEO) Jean-Francois Naa said there was continued demand for private healthcare from both local patients and medical tourists.
“We have to increase our capacity by building more medical blocks and bringing in more consultants to meet this demand.
“Our recent acquisition of Timberland Medical Centre in Sarawak is a good example which fits into our overall strategy. At Timberland, some 30% of patients are medical tourists,” he said at the IHH HealthcareInsider: Unlocking Growth forum yesterday.
“In the next five years, we plan to increase our bed count in existing capacity by 1,000 to 1,500 beds which is about 50% from what we have now. We would also like to modernise our facilities and future proof our operations,” he added.
Meanwhile, CEO of IHH Healthcare Singapore Dr Peter Chow said operations in the city-state had adopted a different growth strategy where it is focused on growing capability instead of capacity.
“Since the Covid-19 pandemic, many of the patients coming into the hospitals especially from regional countries are a lot sicker than what we have seen before. Which is why our hospitals will continue to grow in technology capability so we can take care of them. Patients, especially in their old age, need a lot of care,” Chow said at the forum.
In India, Fortis Healthcare CEO Dr Ashutosh Raghuvanshi said recent acquisitions would help it grow bedcount by some 2,200 beds in the next three years which would help it improve its economies of scale.
