JEDDAH, 9 March 2007 — The Jeddah Clinic Hospitals (JCH) has entered into a management services agreement with the Malaysian KPJ Healthcare Berhad for its two hospitals.
Dr. Hamed H. Mutabagani, chairman, JCH, and Sa’diah Sheikh Bakir, managing director of KPJ Healthcare Berhad, a member of Johor Corporation Group of Companies based in Kuala Lumpur, signed the deal at Movenpick Hotel yesterday.
“The agreement envisages the extension of KPJ’s hospital management services to our two hospitals – New Jeddah Clinic Hospital and Jeddah Clinic Hospital Al-Kandarah,” Mutabagani said.
“We are happy to sign a five-year hospital management contract with JCH, which will enable KPJ to provide the hospital management expertise,” Sa’diah Sheikh Bakir said.
“With this agreement, KPJ will provide JCH with a chief executive officer and a chief finance officer to manage the overall business operations of JCH’s two hospitals in Jeddah,” she elaborated.
KPJ has four other overseas hospitals under its management, including three in Indonesia and one in Bangladesh. In Malaysia, KPH has a network of 17 private specialist hospitals located in major towns with total beds exceeding 1,800. Twelve of these hospitals are MS ISO 2000 certified and four major hospitals are accredited by the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health, a member of the International Society for Quality.
“This new venture will allow KPJ to gain new experience in the Middle East while exchanging best practices from both parties,” she further said. KPJ had earlier offered its first batch of six nursing supervisors to NJCH, following a personnel recruitment agreement signed in 2005.
“We believe numerous synergies can be tapped from this collaboration. We look forward to a long-term business relationship with JCH and are excited to expand and explore further other business opportunities in the area of health care both in the Kingdom and elsewhere in the Gulf,” Sa’diah said.
Aside from managing hospitals, KPJ is also involved in other health care- related businesses.
“One of our other care businesses is in the area of education and training,” Sa’diah noted.
KPJ’s education arm, PNC International College of Nursing and Health Sciences, which began in 1991 as a nursing college, has grown to be one of the reputable nursing and health sciences colleges in Malaysia, with affiliations from international universities such as Australia and the UK. “In fact, PNC is in the process of being upgraded to the status of ‘University College this year,” she added.
KPJ’s other health care-related businesses include medical laboratory services, procurement of drugs and medical supplies services and health care technical and biomedical consultancy services.
