By Zinnia B. Dela Peña Updated June 16, 2009 12:00 AM [ philstar.com ]
MANILA, Philippines – The Medical City, a leading private, tertiary care hospital located along Ortigas Avenue, may spend up to P100 million to build five to 10 new satellite offices within the next 12 months as part of an ongoing expansion program.
Plans are also underway to build a multicare facility and spa in Tagaytay and in Davao to attract more medical tourists and local upscale health and wellness enthusiasts. The medispa will be in partnership with resort or land owners.
In a press briefing yesterday, Margaret Bengzon, head of Medical City’s Strategic Services Group, said the medical institution is aiming to build a national network of satellite clinics throughout the country to further expand its reach and boost its cash flow.
Bengzon said the group plans to build additional satellite outpatient clinics in shopping malls and in the provinces which include Dagupan, Iloilo and Cebu.
This will add to Medical City’s existing outpatient clinics in Antipolo City, Pasig, Cainta, Marikina, Congressional Avenue and Fairview in Quezon City, Lipa City in Batangas province, and the Ayala Trinoma mall also in Quezon City.
To better serve its customers, Medical City is also currently constructing a second 15-story nursing tower which will add over 100,000 square meters of space for patient rooms, ancilliary services and amenities.
Once completed, the new tower will make available a total of 800 patient rooms from the existing 500 rooms. Medical City serves some 40,000 in-patients and 380,000 out-patients a year. It has a medical staff of over 1,000 physicians who are established experts in their various fields of specialization.
Medical City senior vice-president for finance Benita Macalagay said funding for the expansion program will come from internally-generated cash and bank borrowings, if necessary.
Alfredo Bengzon, president and chief executive officer of Medical City, said the institution is aiming to reach out to a larger base of clientele by holding more forums and international roadshows to promote its services in the United States, the Middle East, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
Medical City has aggressively been marketing its services to the established foreign markets of Guam, Palau and other US territories as well as Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
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