how one penang hospital profits from pit-of-the-box business decisions.
Starting off as a fresh, passionate, group of specialist consultants, Island Hospital Sdn. Bhd. dared to pursue new promising ventures in order to provide patients with the best healthcare, services and facilities.As a result, they have soared beyond their selfless goal and have established themselves as one of Asia’s best performing companies.
This Penang-based hospital, established in 1996,was a pioneer in uncharted territory. From the get-go the organisation focused on cutting-edge medical equipment in order to have the best tools at the disposal of their specialists. It also made the bold and lucartive move of expanding into the prior-unexplored but demanding Indonesian markets even as it built Malaysia’s first in-house pathology laboratories. Out-of-the box choices like these became critical strategic success factors in gaining traction, growth momentum and obtaining cross-border market share.
Results in recent years have proven that their strategies were able to maximise profitability. In 2017, their market share acquisition was encouraging as the revenue recorded had surpassed MYR350 million at 16 percent, generating 23 percent EBITDA margin at more than 27 percent of margin growth. Such exponential growth was mainly attributed to operational efficiency leveraged with various strategic focuses, operational initiatives and a high double-digit growth in health tourism.
Their frontline promotion of patient welfare also boosted their well-acknowledged reputation and cohesive productivity. Everything from their relaxing and recuperative ambiance, their dedicated professional workforce, and state-of-the-art medical facilities are tailored to give optimal healthcare to patients. And patients who have experienced the organisation’s high standard services value and have come to prefer it, even if availing themselves of it means taking a flight across the South China Sea.
The medical institution’s target market of health tourism encompasses patients from all over Southeast Asia. Every year, Island Hospital treats at least 300,000 patients with its signature brand of nurturing care and quality treatment. With 304 beds, eight operating theatres, more than 55 full-time consultants, and more than 1,000 employees, each patient is given the best care to put them on the road to recovery.
The leading hospital’s warm nurturing values also extend to those within their working family as well. Their hardworking, skilled staff is well supported by the company’s staff recognition programme and various recreational programmes (weight management programmes, sports activities, competitions, staff of the month award). These programmes also assist their employees when they battle natural disasters and difficult times. This strong foundation of community leaves a lasting impression to everyone the organisation associates with, and is the building block of their achievements.
Island Hospital’s innovative approaches have earned them respect and recognition from several different establishments. Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) has awarded Island Hospital for treating the highest number of healthcare travellers, while Frost & Sullivan awarded them the leading Medical Tourism Hospital accolade. The organisation has also achieved the Star Outstanding Business Award (SOBA). This positive motivation has propelled Island Hospital to further capture regional collaboration opportunities and achieve greater growth on the regional front.
Aligning with Malaysia’s objective to promote health tourism initiatives, Island Hospital aims to fulfil the growing demands for healthcare locally and regionally by embarking on an expansion project that will double the capacity of the existing facility. This will take the form of the first-of-its-kind medical hub in Malaysia, complete with state-of-the-art medical technologies and most advanced, largest, medical tourist facility. These initiatives will undoubtedly spawn a butterfly effect on the spill-over spending of other related industries. These projects catering to health travel patients will not only boost the foreign exchange on a macro level – the expansion will also provide Penang with over 2,000 job opportunities.
