Luye Medical to set up innovation centre

Singapore

FRESH from its recent billion-dollar acquisition of Australia's third largest private hospital group, Singapore- based Luye Medical Group is now taking concrete steps towards constructing its own version of a private healthcare system.

In Singapore, it is looking to set up an innovation centre by the end of this year, while eyeing potential targets for acquisition. In China, it will set up three more clinics in major cities, while its first general hospital will go into operation in two years' time.

"The acquisition falls into part of our global strategy where we want to ramp up our capabilities which will be applicable in the Chinese and Singaporean markets," said Choo Kin Poo, group vice-president of Luye Medical.

Having been in the healthcare sector for close to two decades, with significant time spent in the National Healthcare Group, Mr Choo joined Luye Medical six months ago and is now in charge of the group's strategy planning, business development, and operations.

He was speaking to The Business Times in an interview on Friday, following the completion of the acquisition of Australia's Healthe Care on April 18.

Established in 2005, Healthe Care specialises in oncology, mental health, rehabilitation and orthopedics.

The deal, valued at A$938 million (S$962.1 million), adds 17 hospitals and 2,000 hospital beds spread across Australia to Luye Medical's portfolio.

Luye Medical hopes that the acquisition will significantly boost its capabilities in delivering medical services to its customers. It also hopes to strengthen its forays into medical research and education.

Working with its sister company, the Hong Kong-listed Luye Pharma Group, Luye Medical aims to develop a comprehensive healthcare system by 2025 that ranges from services delivery to dispensing of drugs.

Together with Luye Investment, these three companies are owned by their parent Luye Group, whose chairman is Liu Danbo, a former biology lecturer.

Stating that there is still room for integration between primary, secondary and tertiary care services, Mr Choo said that Luye Medical's vision for its healthcare system will aim to adopt best practices worldwide, while adapting them to local realities.

"We can learn as much as we can from a systems and processes perspective, but we also need to look at how they fit into the local context. Definitely, there will be a need to re-innovate and re-engineer current models," he said.

With Healthe Care snugly in its portfolio, the group is now looking to set up a medical innovation centre in Singapore within this year.

For the centre, Luye Medical is planning to rent office space so that it can set up simulations of what goes on within hospitals. One possible location for the centre will be at the Singapore Science Park.

Working with medical professionals, this innovation centre will help Luye Medical to develop better processes and systems that will come to define its healthcare model, said Mr Choo.

"Healthe Care can come in at this from a different angle when it comes to how we build comprehensive primary and elderly care systems, how to have integrated rehabilitation programmes that will help the elderly," he said.

At the same time, Luye Medical is looking to set up one oncology clinic and one for eyecare or orthopedics by the end of next year. It is also on the lookout for speciality and general practice (GP) clinics to acquire.

The group already has stakes in two other medical establishments in Singapore.

It owns 24.4 per cent of AsiaMedic, listed on the Singapore Exchange with a market value of about S$28.5 million as at Friday. Luye Medical also acquired a stake of about 90 per cent of Vela Diagnostics, a precision medical firm.

"There's a need for a more integrated and comprehensive primary care network - one that's more than the current GP model, and more innovative to help look after the elderly, chronic patients in the community," said Mr Choo.

The acquisition is also expected to strengthen Luye Medical's foothold in China.

Mr Choo said that the group has acquired a building in Chongqing in south-west China to establish its first general hospital there by early 2018. It will have between 300 and 400 beds, and stands at about 60,000 square feet.

"The hospital will incorporate many of Healthe Care's capabilities, systems, processes and management models of running a hospital," he said.

The group already has a clinic in Shanghai and another in Yantai. By the end of this year, it will set up three more - a second one in Shanghai, and two others in Chengdu and possibly Nanjing. It will also set up a medical innovation centre in Shanghai by first half of next year.

In addition, the group runs a women's health clinic in South Korea. It also manages a rehabilitation centre and a dental hospital as joint ventures in the country.