Pantai plans three new hospitals

KUALA LUMPUR: Pantai Holdings Bhd plans to expand its foothold in the country by expanding its hospital network through three new hospitals with an total investment of RM720 million.

Chairman Khairil Anuar Abdullah said the three new hospitals, scheduled to be operational within three years, would be in Iskandar Malaysia, Kota Kinabalu and Manjung in Perak.

"With the purchase of 15 acres of land in the mixed development area of Medini, Iskandar, the Gleneagles Medini will be built in phases.

"In East Malaysia, a new Gleneagles Hospital will be opened in Kota Kinabalu, a 200-bed tertiary hospital.

"And in the next few years, we will see the completion of our 10th Pantai Hospital, a 100-bed community hospital in Manjung, Perak," he said at the launch of a heart centre in Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin graced the occasion on Tuesday, Sept 13.

The company is also focusing on promoting its services abroad.

On overseas expansion which lies under the jurisfication of its parent company, Parkway Pantai Ltd, Khairil said the parent entity was interested in opening hospitals in countries such as United Arab Emirates, India, Vietnam and Brunei.

"To-date, our promotional activities, including participation in international expositions, have yielded results, with health tourists visiting our facilities from around the world.

"Last year, we welcomed an increase of such tourists to our hospitals in the group and we hope to see continuous growth in the number of patients especially those visiting Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur," he said.

Khairil said the group was now constructing a new block with an investment of RM230 million. It is set for completion in the first quarter of 2014.

"After the completion of the new block, we are anticipating medical tourists from Indonesia, Middle East and also from Singapore," he said.

He said the group's hospitals in Melaka and Penang also recorded a heavy flow of medical tourists.

Healthcare group Pantai Holdings has a network of 11 hospitals throughout Malaysia under two brands — Pantai Hospitals and Gleneagles Hospitals.

Collectively, the group has more than 1,800 beds, with over 100,000 admissions a year, powered by more than 700 doctors and 2,000 nurses. — Bernama