The Lanka Hospitals Corporation Ltd (LHCL) is looking at increasing capacity at its Apollo Hospital in Colombo while gearing to expand globally and locally – in the regions, according to officials.
Surgeons at Lanka Hospitals
carrying out a surgery |
“Capacity increase at the current premises is being discussed and we are also looking at regional and global expansion models,” Lakith Peiris, CEO LHCL told the Sunday Times FT. He said LHCL has looked at some of the best global models for healthcare expansion.
“We will look at international markets. We already have a good clientele from Australia, USA, New Zealand, Maldives, etc,” he said, adding that under the able chairmanship of Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Apollo has plans to expand into different regions in the country. “In the medium to long-term, we have plans for satellite centres or no-frills hospitals, so that a larger cross section can enjoy our facilities. We are looking for places to set up in the North and the East to give quality healthcare at an affordable price,” Mr. Peiris said.
He said LHCL has agents promoting Apollo services in countries like USA, New Zealand, Australia, etc. “With the opening up of tourism, we are focusing on medical tourism,” he said adding that Apollo’s gearing ratio is a little above 4%, which gives them the capacity to borrow or invest for all these proposed expansions.
He said that the royalty agreement between Apollo India and LHCL for the use of Apollo’s name is coming up for review. “It is under discussion and we will take a decision by the year end,” he added, without giving details.
He said in two months, the new revamped look of Apollo will be launched. “There will be new strategies in terms of operations, investments for medical equipment, etc. which we will be doing.”
He said Apollo grew last year by 28%, while the industry growth was at 23%. “This means that we have perpetrated into other hospitals’ market shares,” he said, adding that Sri Lanka is a doctor - driven market. “As such we put a lot of emphasis on both our local and expatriate doctors.” |
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