KUALA LUMPUR: Columbia Asia Sdn Bhd, Malaysia-based healthcare provider, is planning to invest a total of RM365 million to build another six new hospitals as part of the group’s expansion plan in the country.
 
The six additional medical facilities will be located in Bintulu in Sarawak, Nusajaya in Johor, and Kota Damansara, Balakong, Bukit Rimau and Setapak within the Klang Valley.

“The expansion plan would be funded by a combination of debt and equity, including a bond issuance that would be announced later.
 
“With the expansion, we will add an average of 480 beds and create a total of 1,800 new job opportunities,” Rick Evans, chairman of Columbia Asia Group of Companies, said at a media briefing here on April 21 on the company’s business plans.

In total, the group is planning another 20 new facilities in Asia, including one in Vietnam and adding 13 to its existing five medical centres in India. The group also has a hospital in Medan, Indonesia.

Construction of the Bintulu and Nusajaya facilities is now 50% completed, while the rest are expected to be ready by the middle of 2011, bringing its total hospitals in Malaysia to 11.
 
On the potential of medical care and the challenges faced by the industry, Evans said the market was still very attractive and the biggest obstacles for expansion would be the scarcity of nurses and the need to contain rising cost of business.

“But medical equipment (cost) is easing while prices of construction raw materials have come down by an average of 10% over the last couple of months, so these provide some relief for us,” he said. 

According to Evans, the group’s main target market is the middle-income group, and payment by third party — payments from insurance companies and employers — make up more than 60% of its revenue.

“We will continue to focus on this niche market, and there is no plan to grow through mergers and acquisitions as our investors are comfortable with our existing business model,” he said.  

Columbia’s first hospital was established in Section 17, Shah Alam in 1998, and it currently has five hospitals up and running — one each in Miri, Seremban, Puchong, Taiping and Shah Alam. Columbia Asia Sdn Bhd is 30%-owned by the Employees Provident Fund and the balance by Columbia Asia Group of companies.

Columbia Asia group is in turn owned by over 150 private equity companies, fund management organisations and individual investors.

Its hospitals receive an average of 250 outpatients a day, and each facility has the potential to generate RM3 million in revenue a month, excluding doctors’ fees. Room charges range from RM350 per day for its ICU unit to RM50 per day for standard sharing rooms.