MPIC acquires Tarlac hospital

MANILA, Philippines - The healthcare group of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) has completed the purchase of a majority stake in Tarlac’s largest private hospital.

The country’s largest healthcare chain is spending nearly P200 million to upgrade newly-acquired Central Luzon Doctors’ Hospital (CLDH), a company executive said.

In a regulatory filing, MPIC, led by business tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan, said it finalized the acquisition of a 51-percent stake in CLDH.

“Our total investment in CLDH will be close to P190 million, which will be used to build a new building that will house a new operating room complex, as well as purchase new equipment for the hospital,” Augusto P. Palisoc Jr., president and CEO of MPIC’s healthcare group, said in a text message.

In June, the healthcare chain acquired 51 percent of CLDH for P187 million. It is also the second hospital acquisition of MPIC this year.

“With the entry of MPIC, CLDH will commence the construction of a new four-story building,” MPIC said.

The new building that will be completed early in 2015 “will house the most advanced diagnostic imaging center in the province with initially a 64-slice CT scan and digital x-ray machines, and eventually a 1.5 Tesla MRI and a  digital mammography machine,” it added.

It will also feature a new operating room and delivery room complex, a complete neonatal intensive care unit (ICU) and a modern ICU while the upper floor will provide additional private hospital rooms, MPIC said.

CLDH is a 200-bed tertiary hospital founded in 1962 by 15 pioneering doctors led by the late spouses Dr. Constante D. Quirino Sr. and Remedios P. Quirino, and Dr. Benjamin S. Paz.

With the finalized deal, CLDH appointed former San Beda College of Medicine dean Dr. Ferdinand Francis Cid as its new president and CEO.

CLDH is the eighth hospital investment of MPIC’s healthcare group, next to Makati Medical Center (2007), Davao Doctors Hospital (2008), Cardinal Santos Medical Center (2009), Riverside Medical Center (2010), Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital (2010), Asian Hospital (2011) and De Los Santos Medical Center (June 2013). MPIC’s hospital group now has a total capacity to 2,137 beds.

MPIC’s hospital group aims to hit P1.2 billion in profits and as much as P17 billion in revenues by 2015. It also targets reaching a bed capacity of 3,000 by acquiring one or two hospitals per year.

Revenues already hit P11 billion last year while earnings reached P722 million, up 29 percent from 2011 given the consolidation of Asian Hospital and higher shareholdings in Cardinal Santos Medical Center.