At least 17 new private hospitals by 2015

Business TimesKUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia could see at least 17 new private hospitals by 2015, with licence to operate some 4,500 beds, involving investments to the tune of RM4.5 billion.

At least three other hospitals have applied to expand its facility and will add another 770 beds.

Industry sources say that based on various reports, this would bring the total number of new beds close to 5,300.

An industry expert contacted by Business Times, said that the average cost of new hospitals (based on number of beds) is around RM1 million, while for extension it is about RM500 million.

Total investment in private hospitals by 2015 would translate roughly to as much as RM4.8 billion, including extending the hospital facility.

Previous reports indicate that Gleneagles has a goal of operating 2,000 beds by 2020 from 380 beds at its two hospitals in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

Apart from the Pantai Parkway group, which operates the Pantai and Gleneagles hospital, and KPJ which operates the largest hospital chain in Malaysia, Sime Darby Healthcare is one of the hospital groups that is expanding.

Several private teaching schools are expected to be established. UCSI University Hospital, is poised to be the first private teaching hospital with 1,000 beds scheduled to open in 2015.

It was also reported that Sunway Medical Centre plans to open a teaching hospital with 1,000 beds, but no confirmed date yet for its opening.

Another private player, John Hopkins University is expected to open a 600-bed teaching hospital but still unclear of its opening.

Meanwhile, the state of Johor alone is expected to have some five hospitals with a 1,140 beds.

The Performance Management and Delivery Unit has projected that by 2020, the hospital bed requirement - between 5,000 and 6,000 beds - set to meet both domestic and overseas demand. Of this, 1,900 beds are for foreign patients.

In a recent interview, the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council chief executive officer Dr Mary Wong Lai Lin said the bed occupancy rates in Johor and the Klang Valley are at 70 per cent.

And once hospitals reach 80 per cent or 90 per cent, it is considered maximum capacity as a certain percentage is usually kept for emergency cases.

She also added that the whole of Malaysia, particularly Sabah, needs more private hospitals.