KUALA LUMPUR: IHH Healthcare Bhd
(IHH) and its strategic partners in China on Friday broke ground for Gleneagles Shanghai Hospital, a 450-bed multi-specialty general hospital, in the Shanghai New Hongqiao International Medical Centre.
Paving the way for the development of the hospital, IHH and Taikang Insurance Group entered into a 70:30 joint venture with Shanghai Hongxin Medical Investment Holding Co Ltd, a majority-owned subsidiary of Shanghai New Hongqiao International Medical Center Construction Development Co Ltd.
In a statement, IHH Healthcare said the hospital was part of the company’s 8 billion yuan (RM5.02bil) pipeline of hospitals across China, which would provide integrated healthcare for residents in Yangtze River Delta and beyond.
Dr Tan See Leng, who is IHH Healthcare managing director and chief executive officer, as well as Parkway Pantai Group chief executive officer and managing director, said China was the group’s key growth market and the company was committed for the long haul.
“We are confident of our prospects, given the rising demand for quality healthcare here and recent reforms by the government to open access for private investors to develop private hospitals and broaden health insurance coverage.
“With our global track record in delivering outstanding patient care and clinical outcomes, we are in a strong position to meet China’s enormous healthcare needs,” he said.
Gleneagles Shanghai marks the next phase of growth for the group in China, having established a firm foothold in its primary care sector over the last decade, IHH said, adding that it would require 1.36 billion yuan (RM853.3mil) in capital expenditure and the hospital was set to open in 2020.
Besides Gleneagles Shanghai, the group opened Gleneagles Hong Kong (a 500-bed multi-specialty hospital) in March 2017, and will progressively open Gleneagles Chengdu (a 350-bed general hospital) in 2018 and Gleneagles Nanjing (a 70-bed obstetrics and gynaecology hospital) in 2019, it said.
To further accelerate its growth in Mainland China, IHH said it had entered into a strategic partnership with Taikang to leverage their complementary strengths in healthcare and insurance.
It will also jointly fund future projects in proportion to their shareholdings in an IHH subsidiary (IHH: 70.1%, Taikang: 29.9%), that manages its primary care portfolio as well as new hospital projects in the mainland, it added. - Bernama
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