Vol. XXII, No. 75-A [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Saturday, November 8, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
METRO PACIFIC Investments Corp. now wants a long-term contract to manage church-owned Cardinal Santos Medical Center after an interim, six-month deal to run the San Juan hospital.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific — which entered the healthcare business three years ago with the acquisition of a third of Makati Medical Center — said affiliate Medical Doctors, Inc. has entered the selection process initiated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila.
Medical Doctors manages Makati Medical and Cardinal Santos, the latter because of an interim contract with the archdiocese in August. The deal allowed Medical Doctors to manage the hospital for six months until a permanent management team takes over.
Metro Pacific also owns a third of the 250-bed Davao Doctors Hospital, Inc. With Makati Medical having a 580-bed capacity, the company claims to be one of the biggest healthcare providers in the country with a total capacity of 830 hospital beds.
Metro Pacific earlier said 500 more beds would be added to its healthcare portfolio before yearend.
"We are encouraged by the improvements we continue to contribute to the existing hospitals we are now involved in, while we constantly look for opportunities to expand our hospital network nationwide," said Augie Palisoc Jr., Metro Pacific executive director, in the disclosure.
Makati Medical is planning to expand its medical tourism program, after getting a tax incentive for the expansion of its facilities.
The hospital has reported a higher number of foreign patients, particularly from Japan. — Emilia Narni J. David
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