Bernama, September 17, 2007

Manipal Hospital Penang Coming Up In Kepala Batas

PENANG, Sept 17 (Bernama) -- A joint venture agreement was signed today between India's Manipal Health Systems and Sri Arunanesh Sdn Bhd to establish a private hospital, Manipal Hospital Penang, in Kepala Batas here.

The 200-bed hospital, which is expected to start operations by second quarter of 2009, will be located on a 90,000-square foot area, 100 metres from the Kepala Batas town area.

The hospital will offer specialised services, including general medicine, general surgery, obstetrics, gynaecology and paedistrics, opthalmology, medical and surgical gastroenterology, neurology, neurosurgery, cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery.

Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, who witnessed the signing ceremony, said the setting up of the hospital would contribute to the establishment of the healthcare and biomedical cluster in Penang.

"It is the first major private hospital outside the metropolitan area situated outside Georgetown, Butterworth and Bukit Mertajam," Koh said in his speech.

He said the setting up of the hospital was in line with the government's effort to promote health tourism in this country.

Manipal Education and Medical Group's managing director Dr Ranjan Rai said the group has been educating doctors for over 50 years.

"Thus, we have access to a large pool of highly qualified and trained doctors working in some of the finest hospitals in the world," Rai said.

"This gives us distinct advantage of ensuring that the best doctors are available for every single hospital we operate," he said.

Rai said the group already had an established presence in Malaysia through the Melaka-Manipal Medical College in Melaka.