Hospitals becoming more like hotels

Amir Firdaus Abdullah, regional CEO of Gleneagles Hospital, says the hospital will be growing more aggressively in the next few years and is looking to expand to East Malaysia, the East Coast and Iskandar Malaysia as well as acquire smaller hospitals in the region. Planned investment cost is RM700 million. The assets will be included in Khazanah Nasional's healthcare portfolio that will be listed this year. Acting like a landlord to doctors, he says the hospital's rental rates are probably the lowest in the country. Amir also talks about healthcare trends, such as leveraging on health informatics and incorporating Ritz Carlton hospitality.