SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A Seattle-based firm that steadily created one of the largest hospital systems in Southeast Asia and India today announced plans to invest another $150 million to expand its network to 34 hospitals and one clinic by 2018.
Columbia Pacific Management and its investment partners created the Columbia Asia hospital system with an innovative business model focused on serving Asia’s rapidly growing middle class with modern and efficient multispecialty hospitals located close to where patients live and work. The Columbia Asia approach of delivering high-quality affordable care contrasts with many private hospitals in the region that have focused primarily on delivering services to the wealthiest patients and expatriates.
Columbia Asia opened four new hospitals just in the last few months – in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, in the Indonesian city of Semarang and in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, India. The company currently has more than 8,000 employees serving more than 2 million patients a year in 26 hospitals and one clinic in Malaysia, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
“When we began opening hospitals, virtually all of the care was paid for directly by the patients but in countries like Malaysia, our hospitals have benefitted from the rapid growth of health insurance to a point where today nearly 70 percent of our patients have coverage,” said Nate McLemore, Managing Director of Columbia Pacific Management. “It is a major shift, and by focusing on delivering value through high-quality care at affordable prices we are uniquely positioned to serve this newly insured population.”
Columbia Asia’s strategy is to create clusters of hospitals in large urban areas. This allows the firm to achieve operational and brand leverage across the market in each large city. Around the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, for example, the company has five hospitals, a sixth to open in 2016 and a seventh to open in 2017.
Another defining element to the Columbia Asia network is that all the hospitals are built on a single basic design, which saves on development costs, and with a standardized quality of care across all facilities.
“No other healthcare provider in Asia has hospitals in as many countries operating under a single brand,” said Daniel R. Baty, the founder of Columbia Pacific Management, who conceived and designed the Columbia Asia hospital system more than 20 years ago. “We’re unique in the marketplace because all our hospitals operate under the same banner and the same standard of care.
“Columbia Asia began with an idea and then a single hospital in Malaysia that opened in 1994,” Baty said. “We took our time and refined our healthcare model to meet the specific needs of the growing middle class in Southeast Asia and India before we began building out the system. Over the last decade we have seen steady and dramatic growth, along with the growth of the middle class and the expansion of insurance coverage in this region.”
To manage the growth of Columbia Asia, John Northen was recently hired to serve as CEO. Northen comes to the hospital network with several decades of experience in the hospitality industry, including six years as Vice President for Marriott International in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
“John’s hospitality background gives him the needed skills to run our expanding hospital network,” McLemore said. “In order to succeed, we knew that we need to put patients at the center of the experience. Putting the guest at the center of the experience is something the hotel industry has done very well – with consistency across the world. John’s experience, when combined with our medical leadership, will help us fulfill our commitment to ensuring that all patients leave our hospitals cared for medically as well as feeling satisfied, respected and comforted.”
Columbia Pacific Management and its affiliates have significant experience delivering healthcare services across Asia and the United States. Besides Columbia Asia, Columbia Pacific Management owns Cascade Healthcare, a company operating senior living facilities in China. Columbia Pacific Management’s founder, Daniel R. Baty, is also a pioneer in the senior living industry in the U.S. and Europe.
For more information about Columbia Pacific Management, go to the company’s new website.
About Columbia Asia
Columbia Asia, part of Seattle-based Columbia Pacific Management, has 27 facilities across Malaysia, India, Vietnam and Indonesia, and plans for 8 new hospitals by 2018.
The company’s highly skilled doctors and nurses deliver care in modern hospitals located close to where people live and work. Columbia Asia hospitals are specifically designed for the needs of patients and built for maximum comfort and efficiency.
For more information about Columbia Asia, go to www.columbiaasia.com.
About Columbia Pacific Management
Columbia Pacific Management (CPM) oversees an international healthcare business that develops and operates hospitals, clinics and senior housing in Asia. With locations in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, CPM’s operating companies provide healthcare and senior care services in markets making up more than half the world’s population. All of these countries have rapidly aging populations, rising middle- and upper-middle-class populations, an under-supply of quality healthcare and senior care facilities, and increasing rates of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiac diseases – creating an unprecedented demand for world-class healthcare services and senior housing.
The company’s affiliates include Columbia Asia, operating hospitals in India and Southeast Asia; Cascade Healthcare, which operates senior care facilities in China; and Remote Medical International, which provides medical services to remote locations around the globe.