Singapore's Parkway Pantai Sees Luxury Hospital Opportunities In China

SINGAPORE - Parkway Pantai Ltd. CEO Tan See Leng has set his sights on ambitious expansion beyond the company's primary markets in Singapore and Malaysia, including a luxury hospital in China that he equates to the hotel chain Shangri-La Hotels.

Private Parkway Chairman Mohammed Azlan Hashim said all opportunities are being reviewed across Asia for expanding business, with China and India the main focus. The company is also scouting for acquisitions in India's hospital management sector.

Headquartered in Singapore, Parkway is a private healthcare group that operates 16 hospitals with more than 3,000 beds in Asia. Its network includes Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

The company intends to be involved in consultancy work in hospital projects, providing designs, management and operational capabilities throughout emerging Asian markets.

Parkway plans to double its hospital beds to 6,000 in the next 18 to 24 months, Azlan said during a press conference to announce the completion of an S$1.97 billion hospital in Singapore. The 333-bed hospital will open in the second half of 2012. By 2013, Parkway intends to add eight hospitals to its network of 16 hospitals in major Asian cities. Parkway operates eight medical and dental clinics in China, including a 20-bed general and specialty center in Shanghai.

Though Malaysia and Singapore contribute most of the company's earnings, hospital businesses from the region will eventually account for one-third of revenue for the group, which plans to relist on a major Asian stock exchange.

China's Private Hospital Evolution Attracting More Players

"We have been healthcare players for quite a long time and we have built up the ability to be flexible. If a country requires certain circumstances, we will adapt and work within those regulations. We are comfortable with the regulations in China as they stand, and as they evolve over time we will evolve with it," Azlan said, discussing the regulatory limits in China and the rest of the region.

China has implemented pilot reimbursement programs in some of its largest cities to institute diagnosis-related-group reimbursement that may drastically change prescription habits - and profit structures - at China's hospitals (Also see "China's Changing Reimbursement Landscape Reshapes Pharma Market" - Scrip, 28 Sep, 2011.).

The company is already offering consultancy and hospital operation support for the Shanghai International Medical Center, a joint project between the Shanghai Municipal government, the Shanghai Healthcare Bureau and the Pudong district government. The 499-bed hospital, to be completed by March 2014, would partner Shanghai Jiatong Medical University and its 12 affiliated hospitals.

Tan said Parkway has classified Chinese markets into four hubs - the Northern region, the Yangtze region, the Pearl River Delta and Western regions.

Parkway started engaging the Chinese authorities on future projects following a policy announcement in December 2010 to allow foreign investments in the healthcare sector.

"We are very excited by the policy," Tan said. But Parkway would wait for the policy to cascade to the provincial and local governments. The national government is working out the details for implementation, but Beijing city and Zhejiang Province officials have already issued guidelines for private investment into hospitals (Also see "New Guidelines Shed Light On Private Investment In China Hospitals" - Scrip, 4 Aug, 2011.).

Asian Expansion

The Parkway management is also set to open its first joint venture hospital in Mumbai, India. The 450-bed hospital, to open in November 2012, is a 50-50 joint venture between Koncentric Investments Ltd. and Parkway Group Healthcare Pte Ltd. Parkway also has a 2010 memorandum of understanding with GM Modi Hospital & Research Centre for Medical Sciences to provide project management and consultancy services for the renovation and expansion of the 100-bed Modi Hospital in New Delhi.

Likewise, Parkway has a consultancy and hospital management agreement in place with City International Hospital for a 319-bed hospital that will open in 2013 in Ho Chi Minh City to serve patients in Ho Chi Minh City and Mekong Delta. The company will also manage Abu Dhabi's Danat Al Emarat Women & Children's Hospital, scheduled to open in December 2012.

- Gurdip Singh ([email protected])