By Iris Gonzales (The
Philippine Star) | Updated March 21, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines –
Conglomerate Ayala Corp. is seeking to expand its foothold in healthcare and
education and hopes to seal more deals this year.
Ayala group head for
Corporate Strategy and Development Paolo Borromeo said the conglomerate wants
to increase investments in human capital through healthcare and education.
“We are looking for
investments in healthcare and education. There are a number of opportunities
that we are evaluating in (the two sectors),” Borromeo said.
Borromeo declined to
confirm whether there are ongoing talks with some parties but said the group
hopes to seal some deals soon.
“Hopefully, (we can do it
soon). Possibly, we’d like to do that this year,” Borromeo said.
He said social
infrastructure is very important for the group.
“People tend to neglect
social infrastructure and are focused on hard infrastructure but (social
infrastructure) is equally important,” he said.
The country’s oldest conglomerate
has its own line of community-based clinics, FamilyDoc, which Ayala put up
through its health-related subsidiary, Ayala Healthcare Holdings.
The group has two
community-based clinics, in Las Piñas and in Imus, which started in December.
The so-called
community-based clinics, with a size of around 100 square meters, have five
staff at any given time including one doctor and two nurses.
With a consultation fee of
P350 and clinic hours from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., the clinic is equipped with an
X-ray, an ultrasound as well as first-aid response equipment.
It is seen complementing
the government-run health centers and other community-based clinics.
Depending on the success of
the first two pilot clinics, Ayala may put up more of these community-based clinics.
In July last year, Ayala
Corp. also announced its venture in healthcare through the acquisition of a 50
percent stake in drugstore chain Generika Group.
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