OUE Healthcare poised to capture foreign patient demand for specialist care services

The healthcare group recently partnered with three medical specialist groups including two leading respiratory and cardiothoracic surgery specialist practices.

Some big changes this year have set major players in Singapore’s healthcare industry on new paths. For Healthway Medical Corporation (HMC), 26 October 2023 marked the closing of its exit offer from OUE Healthcare, the healthcare arm of OUE Limited, and HMC was delisted from Singapore's stock exchange on 8 November 2023.

This development allows OUE Healthcare to harness potential synergies between both companies and streamline its operations but beyond that, it helps them to prepare for the rise of specialist centre demand from foreign patients, HMC’s specialist healthcare segment.

O2 Healthcare Group, OUE Healthcare’s respiratory and cardiothoracic specialist group, is seen to also benefit from the rise of foreign patient entry. 

Yet Kum Meng, OUE Healthcare CEO, said O2 Healthcare has expertise in cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery, pulmonary medicine, and intensive care in Singapore and offers comprehensive and personalised specialist medical services tailored to address a diverse range of lung conditions.

Meanwhile, HMC’s specialist healthcare segment, said Yet, comprises paediatrics, orthopaedics, obstetrics and gynaecology, and other specialists comprising cardiology, gastroenterology, psychiatry, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, general surgery, and speech therapy, which will complement the service offerings of O2 Healthcare

Flexibility in operations

Meanwhile, HMC’s delisting application which began in September will not only benefit OUE Healthcare but also HMC.

Yet said the delisting provides flexibility for HMC to control its business and capital resources to facilitate the implementation of any operational change without attendant costs, regulatory restrictions, and compliance issues associated with its listed status on the Singapore Exchange - Straits Times Index (SGX-ST).

“The Exit Offer is complementary to and synergistic with OUE Healthcare’s existing healthcare businesses in the region and will enable OUE Healthcare to tap into the growing Singapore healthcare market,” Yet told Healthcare Asia.

HMC has over 100 clinics and medical centres in its network, providing a comprehensive spectrum of services covering primary care, secondary care, and ancillary care, which includes general practitioners and family medicine clinics, health screening, specialists, dental services, and allied healthcare services.

The exit offer is expected to build on OUE Healthcare’s current regional network, which comprises a respiratory and cardiothoracic specialist group with 11 specialist doctors and two cardiothoracic surgeons in Singapore, two operating hospitals and one hospital under development in China, three hospitals and four medical centres in Myanmar as well as a controlling stake in First Real Estate Investment Trust.  

The enlarged OUE Healthcare group, with the addition of HMC, “will be well-positioned to provide a comprehensive spectrum of healthcare services to the region, anchored on Singapore’s high standards of medical excellence,” said Yet.

Healthier SG

Moving forward, OUE Healthcare is seeing growth in a patient-centric preventive healthcare model following the COVID-19 pandemic, with the launch of the Healthier SG Initiative, Singapore’s healthcare reform.

The private healthcare group is participating in the government initiative, with 900 of its general practitioner clinics registered in the Healthcare SG initiative.

Healthier SG is leveraging the primary healthcare system and community partners to provide better care for Singaporeans. Currently, individual residents are being enrolled with GPs of their choice and personalised health plans will be created for them.

As of November, the age group of the elderly and other older adults are being enrolled.

“HMC is also an active participant of the Healthier SG Initiative, with 55 clinics in its network already enrolled into the Healthier SG Initiative,” added Yet.