ALI, partner to expand hospital chain

MANILA, Philippines - The partnership between property powerhouse Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) and the Mercado medical group plans to put up its chain of hospitals and satellite clinics in each of the three major islands in the country through its aggressive five-year expansion plan.

The Qualimed brand is expected to have its debut in Mindanao by 2018 at ALI’s Abreeza mall in Davao City, the property arm of the Ayala conglomerate said.

A year after, Qualimed is expected to open its doors to its second Mindanao branch at the Centrio integrated mixed-use complex in Cagayan de Oro City.

Qualimed to date has operations in Luzon and Visayas with branches in Manila, Quezon City, Makati, Batangas and Iloilo City.

“We plan to continue expanding. We believe healthcare is a very good complement to existing businesses we have especially as we create new communities in many of the areas we are now in,” ALI chief finance officer Jimmy Ysmael said.

“We will have at least two formats, one is the clinics which will be housed in the malls, which will be a good addition to the tenants and will attract traffic to the malls and provide affordable healthcare to a lot of people and of course, hospitals. We will try to make it as efficient as possible for Qualimed,” Ysmael added.

ALI last year made its way into the local healthcare industry through a joint venture with Mercado General Hospital Inc.

Under its five-year plan which commenced last year, the tandem intends to put up 1,000 beds over the next five years through 10 new hospitals and 10 satellite clinics with investment seen exceeding P5 billion.

Based on its recent timeline, ALI said Qualimed will open two branches in UP Town Center and in San Jose, Bulacan this year. Two more will rise next year in Alabang Town Center and in Nuvali, Laguna.

By 2017, three Qualimed clinics and hospitals will be opened in Bacolod, Cebu and Balintawak, to be followed by four in 2018 which will be situated in Harbor Point in Subic, Abreeza mall in Davao, and Market! Market! mall and Arca South in Taguig,

Qualimed in Kawit Cavite, in Centrio Cagayan de Oro, and Cebu central business district will complete the five-year expansion program by 2019.

ALI said Qualimed’s rates are expected to be 30 to 40 percent lower than what are presently being offered in the market.