Koo (second from left) and Dr Ong (second from right) showing their awards to Lee (middle) at the ceremony.
WHAT a turnaround it has been for two private hospitals in Seremban, Negri Sembilan, which were heavily in debt and on the brink of closure just a few years ago.
CMH Specialist Hospital and Mawar Medical Centre (MMC) were recognised at the BrandLaureate Best Brands Awards 2022-23 ceremony held in Kuala Lumpur.
CMH Specialist Hospital, previously the Negri Sembilan Chinese Maternity Hospital, won the Iconic Brand award in the Community Hospital category.
MMC, known previously as Mawar Haemodialysis Centre, received the Best Choice award in the Healthcare – Private Hospital category.
The event is organised by The World Brands Foundation.
Both hospitals owe their turnaround to property developer and philanthropist Datuk Seri Lee Tian Hock who had advanced money to help revive them.
Lee is chairman of both Negri Sembilan Chinese Maternity Association (NSCMA) and Mawar Haemodialysis Centre (MHC).
NSCMA owns CMH Specialist Hospital while MHC owns MMC.
CMH Specialist Hospital chief executive officer Henderic Koo Teck Leng said although it was a non-profit healthcare institution, the hospital no longer needed to rely on public donations to operate.
“The recent corporate restructuring exercise has enabled us to run it on our own.
“We are also able to provide assistance to vulnerable groups,” he said, adding that the team was motivated to continue providing quality medical care.
Koo said there were plans to expand, including increasing the number of beds to 150 and acquiring advanced medical equipment.
Mawar Medical Centre chief executive officer Dr Ong Chiew Ping said Lee’s team, which took over the hospital in 2019, had transformed it into a specialist facility providing high quality services.
The hospital, he said, obtained the ISO 9001:2015 certification in 2021.
Dr Ong said the hospital had also recruited new specialist consultants in different fields such as cardiology, endocrinology, vascular surgery, oncology, psychiatry, and gastroenterology.
“The newly implemented integrated hospital information system has improved the entire operation process for better efficiency,” she added.
In November 2013, the then NSCMH Medical Centre was ordered not to accept new in-patients because it did not have any resident specialist at the facility.
The hospital was also ordered to partially close as it had violated several other conditions under the Private Healthcare and Facilities Act.
These included not forming a Medical Advisory Committee and having allowed non-medical personnel to intervene in patients’ clinical management.
Lee then advanced RM17mil to save the hospital.
In early 2019, the ministry also ordered MMC to cease operations following the resignations of all but one of its specialists.
Lee forked out RM6mil to rescue the hospital and took over the management.
Both hospitals have started registering profits over the years, a portion of which is given to charitable and educational purposes.
