Holding company Phinma Corp. dropped a plan to team up with Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings Inc. to modernize a 100-bed training hospital in Cebu.
Phinma president Ramon del Rosario Jr. said in a recent interview the company decided to develop the Sacred Heart Hospital on its own. Sacred Heart Hospital is owned by Southwestern University, which was acquired by Phinma last year.
“We had a rethink because we decided that we really want to strengthen our medical programs in Southwestern University. It is very critical for our success as a medical science school to have a hospital that we fully control,” Del Rosario said.
“So we decided to hold on to it and run it ourselves for the time being but that does not closes the door for partnering with others in the future. But for now, we want to take our time to study it and understand it better,” he said.
The hospital group of Metro Pacific said in November 2015 that it was approached by Phinma group, which acquired a majority stake in SWU, to help with the development of a master plan and a five-year business plan for Sacred Heart Hospital.
Meanwhile, Metro Pacific told the stock exchange it was in talks for the possible acquisition of a controlling interest in Marikina Valley Medical Center. The company said no definitive agreement had been signed yet.
The hospital group of Metro Pacific had 11 hospitals with 2,700 beds throughout the country as of end-march 2016. These included six hospitals in Metro Manila, including Makati Medical Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Asian Hospital, De Los Santos Medical Center and Manila Doctors Hospital.
It also operates five hospitals around the country, including Davao Doctors Hospital, Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod, Central Luzon Doctors Hospital in Tarlac, West Metro Medical Center in Zamboanga and Sacred Heart Hospital of Malolos in Bulacan.
It also invested in a mall-based diagnostic and surgical center MegaClinic in SM Megamall, and has indirect ownership in two healthcare colleges, Davao Doctors College and Riverside College Inc. in Bacolod.
Core net income of the hospital group rose 39 percent to P408 million in the first quarter, as a result of increasing patient revenues, higher enrollees, gains from completed capital expenditure programs, lower interest costs and savings from group synergy projects.