Metro Pacific inks 20-year deal to manage Cardinal Santos hospital

MANILA, Philippines - Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC) has formally signed a 20-year operations and management contract with the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila (RCAM) for Cardinal Santos Medical Center (CSMC) in San Juan.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, MPIC said the contract is effective March 1, 2009 and requires an initial investment of P250 million for the first three years of operation to upgrade CSMC’s medical facilities and improve its range of services.

The agreement gives MPIC long-term control of the 212-bed premium hospital following Colinas Verdes’ Hospital Managers Corp.’s management of the interim operations of CSMC for a period of 6 1/2 months pending the selection of a long-term operator.

Colinas Verdes is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Medical Doctors Inc. (MDI) which is, in turn, 32.44 percent owned by MPIC.

CSMC is the third hospital to be integrated into MPIC’s nationwide chain of premier hospitals.

MPIC has been on acquisition mode since 2005 when it purchased a 33.5 percent stake in Makati Medical Center, making it the single biggest shareholder. It also bought 34 percent of Davao Doctors Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in Mindanao.

MDI has allotted at least P961 million for the continued facilities improvement program of Makati Med which include the construction of an eight-storey building to add 445 beds, and a five-level basement parking as well as the renovation of the existing 39-year old nine-level hospital building.

Davao Doctors Hospital is likewise embarking on an expansion program estimated to cost P250 million. The expansion, which seeks to align Davao Doctors along the ranks of the best hospitals in Manila, will involve the acquisition of new equipment and the construction a new building and a parking lot.  

MPIC has been aggressively building up its healthcare service portfolio in line with its vision to establish the first nationwide chain of premier hospitals in the Philippines.

The group has allocated P100 million to acquire three hospitals as it it aims to have up to 5,000 beds in the next three or five years which could contribute P15 billion in additional revenues.