Medical tourism key to KPJ healthcare's growth

The research unit of RHB Capital said KPJ Healthcare had set an internal target of growing its medical tourism business to a targeted revenue contribution of 25 per cent by 2020.

"In order to grow the medical tourism business further, KPJ Healthcare intends to focus on transforming three of its existing hospitals into reference centers for oncology treatment.

"These hospitals would be upgraded to include new facilities in oncology and radiotherapy treatment, while an additional nuclear medicine facility would be introduced at the KPJ Johor Specialist hospital in this quarter," it said in a research note today.

Meanwhile, it said the construction of a new flagship 390-bed hospital in Bandar Dato' Onn is slated to begin in early-2014, in order to meet the targeted opening by end-2014.

Upon completion, it said the hospital will house six Centres of Excellences in the field of oncology, women and child, cosmetics and reconstruction, orthopedic, cardiology and geriatrics.

"Services would be priced competitively to tap into the more price-sensitive foreign community from Singapore," it added.

Moving forward, RHB Research expects KPJ Healthcare to deliver a stronger performance this year, boosted by additional beds arising from the scheduled opening of two new hospitals, as well as the new Sabah Medical Centre.

The research unit said KPJ had reaffirmed expansion plans to open at least two new hospitals every year to maintain its dominance in the local healthcare sector.