Hospital operators spread provincial wings

“Following last month’s military coup and declaration of a curfew, medical and healthcare business is just like many other sectors. In Bangkok, hospitals that focus on international patients and tourists are more greatly damaged than those aimed at locals and expats,” said Dr Chairat Panthuraamphorn, chief executive officer and managing director of Samitivej Hospital Group.

However, he said the overall picture for the medical industry should remain one of growth over the remainder of the year, although not at as high a rate as before the coup and curfew. 

Hospital operators also expect that business will return to near-normal levels if foreign visitors return to Thailand, he added. Tourism accounts for 10 per cent of the economy and, of the 26.5 million people who visited last year, millions came to Thailand for medical treatment, spa and healthcare services. 

The country earned US$4.31 billion (Bt140 billion) in revenue from medical tourism in 2013, after average growth of 15 per cent a year over the past decade.

Medical business has plunged since late last year, when anti-government protesters mobilised and began to occupy many government sites in Bangkok. Major hospital operators believe the bulk of these customers will not come back to the Kingdom until the military ends martial law and the curfew. Chairat said Samitivej Hospital Group plans to open a new hospital in Chon Buri province by the second quarter of next year – the fifth hospital in its portfolio. 

Besides its current four hospitals, the group has three specialised centres for children’s and liver diseases. These are located within its Samitivej complexes in Bangkok. 

The new project will consist of 160 beds in the first phase, with the premises expandable if there is high demand.

“We had planned for many more projects, but now we are going to invest only in what we see as those offering a good return. This change of strategy is due to a drop in our revenue. We earlier projected revenue of Bt12 billon this year, but it is now likely to come in at around Bt10 billion,” said the CEO.

As to overseas expansion, the group only has a clinic in Myanmar, and is currently silent about any large projects abroad. However, it has ongoing strategic alliances in Asean, Japan and the Middle East, and conducts continuous staff training to enhance service levels and constantly increase its potential and ability to take care of paediatric patients. 

Alliances in some major cities in East Asia, such as Beijing and Shanghai, have already been added to its portfolio, while there are steps to provide medical escort services to transport patients to countries such as the United States and Australia.

The group recently opened an international children’s hospital in Bangkok to serve up to 1,000 out-patients and 100 in-patients per day. It targets annual revenue of nearly Bt1 billion from this new business. 

In addition, Samitivej will continue its philanthropic efforts through its New Life Foundation, which will provide free paediatric heart surgery and bone-marrow transplants for 10 children this year.

 

Bangkok Hospital Group expansion

Meanwhile, another major medical-services player, Bangkok Dusit Medical Service – the operator of Bangkok Hospital – last week announced the acquisition of Sanamchan Hospital in Nakhon Pathom province. 

The move is part of Bangkok Hospital Group’s 2014 expansion plans to capture patients in the West of the country and is expected to boost annual revenue growth to 13 per cent. Existing hospitals will account for 10-per-cent growth, and new hospitals for 3 per cent. Bangkok Hospital Group already has 31 hospitals in its network and plans to open five more this year, another two next year, and one more in 2016.

The acquisition of Sanamchan Hospital, which is costing the group between Bt3.5 billion and Bt3.6 billion, will be completed by the end of next month. 

As a result of the acquisition, two of Sanamchan’s sister hospitals – one in Nakhon Pathom and the other in Phetchaburi – will be managed by Bangkok Hospital Group.

While Thailand continues to struggle with its political troubles, neighbouring countries have been pushing their own healthcare sectors in a bid to attract customers from the Kingdom. 

The Philippines promotes niche markets in orthopaedics, eye surgery, dentistry and cancer care, while Malaysia is another growing medical destination, with the number of health tourists doubling since 2010 to 770,134 last year. 

Hospital operators in Singapore are also striving to grab more of the market until recently held by their Thai counterparts.