Metro Pacific eyes long-term deal on Cardinal Santos hospital

Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) will bid for the contract to operate on a long-term basis the Catholic Church-owned Cardinal Santos Medical Center (CSMC).

MPIC chairman Manuel Pangilinan said they are now working with BPI Capital, their financial adviser, to prepare for the bidding scheduled to be held in early January next year.

Medical Doctors Inc. (MDI), which is 33.45 percent owned by MPIC, was earlier chosen as the interim operator of CSMC for six months which started in August and will end in February.

“We will be bidding for the long-term operation of Cardinal Santos,” Pangilinan confirmed.

Earlier, MPIC announced that its subsidiary MDI has “formally participated as one of the interested parties in RCAM’s (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila) selection process to be the long term operator of CSMC.”

MPIC said it is allocating around P100 million in additional funds to finance the operation of the CSMC.

Cardinal Santos is a 212-bed tertiary hospital situated in a three-hectare property along Wilson Street in San Juan. The land as well as the hospital is owned by the RCAM.

RCAM tapped MPIC to operate the hospital for six months pending the selection of a permanent operator. Incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of MDI, Colinas Verdes Hospital Management Corp. is now managing and operating the hospital.

Should the new company not be appointed as long-term operator, it shall either be sold to the long-term operator equal to its net asset value plus whatever advances MPIC may have contributed or be dissolved with cash, receivables and inventory being liquidated to pay off liabilities and capital.

Pangilinan said that they are putting in new equipment for CSMC and that they are looking at the possibility of putting up a new wing.

He, earlier, expressed confidence that their hospital business will be one of their biggest income earners next year, next to water utility firm – Maynilad and the Manila North Tollways Corp. MPIC is expected to end this year with a core profit of P250 million.

MDI is also the owner and operator of the Makati Medical Center, which is now in its second year of a facilities improvement program.

MPIC is also the single largest shareholder of the Davao Doctors Hospital (DDH) following its buy-in of a 34-percent stake in DDH last May amounting to P498 million.

The 39-year-old Davao-based medical facility is embarking on a P250-million capital expenditure that “aims to align the medical center along the ranks of the best hospitals in Manila.”

DDH is also studying the possibility of building an additional 100 doctor’s clinics, renovate its existing 200 rooms and build parking areas to accommodate at least 700 cars.