Affordable, Accessible, Quality

Columbia Asia Group CEO Dr Kelvin Loh Believes Quality Health Care Can Be Both Affordable And Easy To Get To All Across Asia.

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It’s not always easy to access quality health care, no matter where you live. Even in major metropolitan areas across Asia, hospital services may be restricted to the heart of the nearest city or the business district. Accessibility is thus an increasingly essential factor in building healthcare infrastructure. That’s why Dr Kelvin Loh, CEO of Columbia Asia Group, has made it a priority for the Group’s network of hospitals and clinics.

“Healthcare expenditure is growing rapidly,” says Kelvin. “The issue, however, is how do you best serve this growing demand? We need new thinking around the business model. That’s where I feel Columbia Asia fits in, because in the end what people want out of health care is quality, as well as affordability and accessibility.

“In many Asian cities, for example, it could take an hour or more to travel to the city centre. What if we could bring that affordable health care close to where they live and provide a good network for all population areas? It’s democratisation of health care.”

Across South-East Asia and India, Columbia Asia (a subsidiary of the Seattle-based Columbia Pacific Management) operates 28 hospitals and clinics, all erected since the Group built its first hospital in 1996. This rate of construction is no mean feat, nor does it show any signs of abating, with a further seven hospital projects – both extensions and new constructions – in the pipeline. More impressively, these projects are completed in just 18 months, on average.