Paolo Medic to spend B1.2bn in three years on upgrades

[lee]

Bangkokpost.com:

Paolo Medic to spend B1.2bn in three years on upgrades

CHAROEN KITTIKANYA (Bangkokpost.com)

The operator of the Paolo Memorial Hospital Group plans to invest about 1.2 billion baht over the next three years to upgrade its facilities and capitalise on the country's growing health-care business.

According to Itti Thongtang, the president of Paolo Medic, the money would mostly go toward new medical equipment and renovations to attract wealthier customers.

Controlled by Wichai Thongtang, a lawyer who helped former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra win his asset-concealment case before the Constitutional Court in 2001, Paolo Medic currently owns three hospitals: on Phahon Yothin Road and Chok Chai 4 Road in Bangkok, and in Samut Prakan. The company also holds a management contract with Paolo Memorial Hospital in Udon Thani.

Mr Itti, the second son of Mr Wichai, said a big portion of the investment would be used to develop the 250-bed Paolo Memorial on Phahon Yothin Road as a flagship to draw more well-heeled clients and foreign patients.

It plans to spend 350 million baht on a new building for the Paolo Memorial Hospital in Samut Prakan to expand bed capacity to 350 from 200. It will also pay 200 million baht for renovations to the 120-bed Paolo-Siam Hospital on Chok Chai 4.

The Thongtang family also wants to acquire hospitals if good deals emerge, Mr Itti said.

In 2001, the Thongtang family took a majority stake in Paolo Medic to use as a springboard to later acquire the SET-listed Phyathai Hospital Group. The family is now the majority shareholder of Phyathai Hospital, which operates three hospitals on Si Ayutthaya Road, Phahon Yothin Road, and in Thon Buri.

Mr Wichai is not a new face in the hospital business. Before investing in Paolo Medic, he took a 10% stake in Muangrat Hospital in Ratchaburi in 1994. Later in 1999, he bought a 50% stake in Sikarin Hospital on Theparak Road, which at that time faced a cash crisis.

Mr Wichai sold his stake in Sikarin Hospital to existing shareholders in 2002 after the hospital was on the road to recovery.

Paolo Medic alone reported revenue from hospital services of 1.6 billion baht last year, a 24% rise from a year earlier.

[Paul]

Wait for the costs to be passed on and make it even more expensive than it already is !!!

[lee]

That explains the 9,000 baht bill for just 1 night there.

[Doc]

Wait for the costs to be passed on and make it even more expensive than it already is !!!

Still going to be cheaper than using a hospital in the States.