KPJ to spend RM1b on 9 new hospitals over next 5 years

KUALA LUMPUR: KPJ Healthcare Bhd expects to spend RM1 billion to construct nine new hospitals over the next five years, said its president and managing director Amiruddin Abdul Satar.

“Building these new hospitals is necessary to cater to the growing community and increasing demand for good healthcare service,” he told reporters after a luncheon talk on “Prospects for Private Healthcare in Malaysia” organised by Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd.

Out of the nine hospitals, one was completed two months ago in Rawang, Selangor, and another one in Muar, Johor, will be ready on July 1 this year.

Amiruddin said with the new hospitals, the group expects to record higher revenue due to the increase in the number of patients, while profits would traditionally be narrower in the first or second year as these new hospitals would still be incurring losses. However, he said it was a short-term price to pay as KPJ Healthcare cannot grow without building new capacity, adding that upon completion, it would operate a total of 32 hospitals.

“I hope more investments will be allocated for the construction of both public and private hospitals, so that the queueing time for patients will be shorter,” Amiruddin said.

On outlook of the private healthcare sector, he said there would be bright prospects given the higher wages enjoyed by the population. People will not think twice to invest in their health. Whereas in hard times, they will cut down on other things such as entertainment, but they will not be stingy on healthcare,” he said. — Bernama


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 20, 2014.