SIME Darby Bhd is looking to set up new hospitals or buy stakes in existing hospitals in Indonesia and Penang, as it hopes to capture a larger share in the growing healthcare industry.
Analysts expects the Malaysian healthcare sector to grow by 15 per cent annually over the next few years. By 2015, private hospital services market in the country is expected to be worth RM13.79 billion.
“We are looking at Indonesia, specifically Jakarta. So far, we have undertaken a few market studies. It is still at the exploratory stage … We are also seriously looking into the possibility of expanding in Penang,” said Sime Darby chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Bakke Salleh yesterday.
Mohd Bakke said the company can either build a new hospital from scratch or buy stakes in existing hospital.
He added that the company is open to acquiring stakes less than 51 per cent, as long as the stakes are “substantial” and the company is able to play an “active role” in the day-to-day operations of the hospital.
Sime Darby, via Sime Darby Healthcare Sdn Bhd, officially launched the Sime Darby Medical Centre Ara Damansara yesterday. It was launched by Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, the Sultan of Selangor.
The new medical centre, currently with over 70 beds, is expected to have 220 beds by 2016. By then, it also hopes that one-fifth of its patients to be foreigners, from 5 per cent currently.
The Sime Darby Medical Centre Ara Damansara is the country’s first stand-alone centre of excellence focusing on brain, heart and spine and joint cases.
Built at a cost of RM240 million, the medical centre will eventually have 220 beds, 30 clinic suites, five operating theatres and two cardiovascular laboratories.
It will also have a fully-equipped rehabilitation facility, which includes neuro-spinal rehabilitation, paediatric therapy, musculoskeletal rehabilitation, occupational therapy, hydrotherapy and speech therapy.
Picture courtesy of: Simedarby.com
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