DoctorxDentist owner disposes of entire stake in company
THE sole shareholder of controversy-hit healthcare platform DoctorxDentist has disposed of all her shares in the company and stepped down from her role as director.
Based on regulatory filings seen by The Business Times, company owner Rose Chen Ah Keow on Jan 18, 2021 transferred 40,182 shares to Gerald Guan Yew Kin and 9,818 shares to Tan Ah Tin.
Both new shareholders' other business interests appear unrelated to the industry that DoctorxDentist is in.
DoctorxDentist's majority shareholder is now Mr Guan, who owns 49.9 per cent of the company, followed by Ms Tan with 33 per cent, chief executive Tristan Hahner at 12.1 per cent and general manager Tyr Ding at 5 per cent.
Regulatory filings showed that a total of 50,000 new shares were issued to Mr Guan, Ms Tan, Mr Hahner and Ms Ding on Jan 22 at S$1 per share.
Ms Ding is now the sole director of DoctorxDentist. Ms Chen no longer holds a management position in the company, Ms Ding told BT.
Ms Chen appeared to be the mother of a doctor named Ethan Goh Zhong Min, who told BT he had provided advice in his personal capacity during the early years of DoctorxDentist's setup.
Ms Ding said Ms Chen assisted the company in its early stages on administrative affairs that included regulatory liaison, grant applications, talent acquisition and accounting.
"Rose's position was never intended to be permanent. She remained on to assist the business through Covid-19 related uncertainties until suitable hires could be found to take over her roles progressively. Once those roles were filled by early 2021, her active involvement in DoctorxDentist was no longer required," she said.
Ms Tan and Mr Guan are both private investors and hold no managerial roles in the company, Ms Ding added.
The startup came under the spotlight in November last year for refusing to remove some doctors' profiles and reviews of doctors on its website after the Singapore Medical Association told it to do so.
It has since wiped its platform of reviews and delisted at least 9,700 profiles of doctors. The Singapore Medical Council had considered legal action against the company and warned medical practitioners against associating with certain platforms that make use of patient feedback and ratings.
The incident sparked a discussion about regulation of such third party platforms. Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said the Ministry of Health is introducing a new services-based Healthcare Services Act (HCSA) in order to strengthen the regulation of evolving healthcare models.
Mr Gan gave these comments on Jan 6, 2021 in a written parliamentary response to a question by Member of Parliament (Jurong GRC) and medical doctor Tan Wu Meng.
The HCSA was passed in Parliament on Jan 6, 2020, and implementation will be rolled out progressively in 2021.
"Indirect providers shall be subject to the HCSA advertising regulations should they advertise any licensable healthcare services. In particular, an indirect provider may only advertise with a licensee's explicit authorisation and must comply with all relevant HCSA advertising rules," said Mr Gan.
READ MORE:
