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RP, Taiwan firms join hands for medical tourism center in Subic

By Ric Sapnu
http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=2007113016&type=2 | Saturday, December 1, 2007

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — A Taiwanese healthcare products manufacturer and a Filipino firm specializing in ambulatory hospitals and allied medical education, have joined forces here to establish a world-class medical center patterned after Bangkok’s Bumrungrad International, the world’s leading one-stop center in medical tourism.

MedTecs Corp. which is located at the Subic Bay Gateway Park, and TotalMED, which operates several healthcare centers in the country, said their project will capitalize on the growing global trend of medical tourism.

“We see Subic as the next medical tourism destination in Asia in the next few years,” declared Dr. Raymond Ricardo, president and CEO of TotalMED, as he briefed members of Filipino and Taiwanese business councils at the Formosa Hall of Subic Bay Gateway Park (SBGP).

“It’s all here in Subic — the location is great, the ambience is good, and the facilities are incredible,” Ricardo said.

To be able to put up a world-class medical tourism facility here, the two companies plan to convert MedTecs’ existing building into a four-story complex of medical offices, assisted living facilities, and a nursing school with a total floor area of 19,800 sqm.

The project will capitalize on the potentials of Subic for medical tourism, as well as the potential local market. It will also provide a venue for local doctors and medical personnel to practice in a world-class facility, and give local health providers an opportunity to participate in the growing medical tourism industry.

Ricardo sees huge potentials, saying that in the combined Subic and Clark areas alone, there are around 5,000 US military veterans and their dependents, plus around 100,000 ecozone employees and dependents of business locators.
The potential local market also includes a quarter of the Philippine population that lives north of Manila, where there are few hospitals equipped for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT) scan, X-ray and medical laboratories.

“These are only the local markets,” Dr. Ricardo said, pointing out that the bigger potential lies in foreign patients who would travel to the country to avail themselves of world-class health services at cheaper costs.
This phenomenon, Ricardo added, is bringing some 250,000 medical tourists to Singapore each year, 500,000 to India, and about one million to Thailand. He said the combined earnings of India and Thailand in medical tourism reach $1 billion annually.

The growing medical tourism industry is also being encouraged by the Philippine government because of its high income-generating potential. In 2006 it is estimated that the total revenue generated by medical tourism in Asia amounted to $2.5 billion. This is expected to grow to $4.5 billion in 2012.

Currently, the Philippines is one of the largest exporters of medical talents overseas, with around 20,000 nurses going each year to the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries, and around 6,000 doctors studying to become nurses for overseas work.

“Unfortunately, a lot of this Filipino talent is not being utilized. With the development of medical tourism here, they will have a reason to stay in the Philippines and provide world-class medical services for both local and foreign customers,” Arreza noted.