KPJ Healthcare Berhad

KPJ in tie-up to build Perlis Specialist Hospital

The New Straits Times, Tuesday, 12 July 2011

KUALA LUMPUR - KPJ Healthcare Bhd (KPJ), a unit of Johor Corp. has teamed up with Yayasan Islam Perlis (YIPs) 10 develop a RM47 million specialist hospital in Kangar, Perlis, the first private specialist hospital to be built in smallest state in Malaysia.

KPJ, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Kumpulan Perubatan (Johor) Sdn. Bhd, signed a Joint venture agreement with YIPs to set up a 60:40 joint-venture company, which will undertake the development of the hospital.

Its managing director Datin Paduka Siti Sa’diah Sheikh Bakir said the new specialist hospital will be developed in two phases, with the first phase costing RMM32 million for the development and buying of equipment.

"Ground breaking and construction is planned for November 2011 and the new hospital is expected to be completed by December 2013, and opened to the public by January 2014." she told reporters after the signing ceremony here yesterday.

As part of the joint venture, she said, YIPs will provide the land in Pengkalan Asam, Mukim Seriab in Kangar, measuring some 1.72ha, while KPJ will leverage on its 30 years of healthcare experience to develop and run the new hospital.

"In a span of two years, the bare plot of land in Pengkalan Asam will be transformed into a six stories of 123,000 sq ft in built-up area," she said.

She said this new hospital, which will be named Perlis Specialist Hospital is designed to provide customers with quality medical treatment.

"The blueprint for the new hospital includes plans to provide facilities such as three operation rooms alongside an intensive care unit and labour room as well as other medical facilities"

"It will also provide physiotherapy, haemodialysis, accident and emergency as well as 24hour patient services.’ she said.

Under its first phase development, Siti Sa’diah said, the hospital will have diagnostic imaging facilities such as magnetic resonance imaging scanner as well as a 64-slice computer tomography scanner and other latest medical equipment. Siti Sa’diah expects the group to register a return on investment from its hospital within three to four years. She said, since 2007, the group has managed to register a revenue of more than RM 1 billion.