Vol. XXII, No. 59 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Thursday, October 16, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
DAVAO CITY — The new management of Davao Doctors Hospital will spend P250 million until the end of next year, as it tries to earn a reputation as among the best in the next five years.
Andres M. Licaros Jr., newly appointed chief operating officer of the hospital, said the bulk of the money would be used to buy new equipment and in setting up a heart center.
The management will also address issues such as inadequate parking, clinics and outpatient services.
Davao Doctors Chairman Dominador O. Cabrera said the hospital had closed a deal with Siemens for a digital mammography, a machine used to detect breast cancer.
The hospital will also audit its equipment and design "so we will know how we want to look five years from now," Mr. Licaros said. "We want to make our hospital better than some of the best hospitals in Manila.
At present, he said, some physicians could not set up clinics for lack of space. Some doctors have offered to buy their own equipment in the clinics, he added.
Businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan through Metro Pacific Investment Corp. bought a third of the hospital for about P500 million.
The businessman earlier said he wanted to the hospital to tap the medical tourism industry by providing amenities that will not only attract local patients but foreigners as well. Mr. Pangilinan has pledged to infuse more money into the hospital to make it one of the country’s best.
He said they wanted to operate the hospital like a hotel, noting that the Davao Doctors College is producing graduates both for the medical and tourism industries. Mr. Licaros said the management was finalizing plans that will link the hospital with tourism facilities in the city such as golf courses and primary resorts and hotels. This will allow the hospital to sell itself not only to patients outside the city, but to foreigners who want seamless services and who want to be treated like tourists.
"I believe we can handle patients from different cultures," he said, citing St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City, which is also part of the Metro Pacific network. Still, the hospital would treat the local market as its main clientele. "We will educate the market on what services we can offer. The expertise is here," Mr. Licaros said, adding that they would offer an attractive wage pacakge to prevent health professionals from leaving. — Carmelito Q. Francisco
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