KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- IHH Healthcare Malaysia, one of the largest healthcare providers in the country, is introducing a new care model in Johor aimed at improving treatment efficiency and reducing operating overheads, with potential savings to be passed on to patients.
IHH Healthcare Malaysia chief executive officer Dr Kamal Amzan said the initiative would see Afiniti Wellness in Medini, Iskandar Puteri developed into a dedicated Ambulatory Care Centre (ACC) for Gleneagles Hospital Johor (GHJ).
He said the centre would handle selected procedures that could be completed within a day, allowing the main hospital to focus on patients requiring more complex treatment.
"But if we are able to do all these day care procedures in a day care centre, obviously the overhead will be lower. We are not going to open it 24 hours. Right? The number of staff will not be that many and we are able to lower down the overheads and therefore pass the savings back to Malaysians," he told Bernama in an interview today.
He added that Johor serves as the pioneer location for this new care model, with plans for similar ambulatory care expansions in Kuala Lumpur over the next five years.
Dr Kamal said the development of the dedicated ACC will enable selected outpatient, diagnostic and day-surgery procedures such as endoscopies, cataract surgeries, dental treatments and health screenings to move into a dedicated setting.
This separation allows GHJ to optimise its main hospital infrastructure for high-acuity and complex cases, including heart bypass surgeries, brain surgeries and advanced oncology treatments.
Together with Afiniti Wellness and existing landbank in Medini, the expansion will lay the foundation for an integrated 18-acre healthcare campus featuring a specialist suite tower, retail outlets and clinical facilities.
On long-term capacity growth, Dr Kamal revealed that over the next five years, GHJ will be positioned as a regional quaternary-level care facility with an overall capacity of 600 beds.
The campus expansion will involve constructing a prospective 300-bed inpatient block behind the main building, adding to the hospital's existing 300-bed capacity.
He said the investment comes as Johor prepares for the development of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), which is set to accelerate cross-border movement, talent flow and regional healthcare demand along the Johor-Singapore corridor.
In order to support international patients and cross-border flow from Singapore and the region, GHJ has established a dedicated International Patient Lounge providing one-stop services for visa processing, accommodation and travel logistics.
Retrofitting works on Afiniti Wellness will commence shortly, with the ACC targeted to be fully operational between the second and third quarters of 2028.
Since opening in 2015, GHJ has delivered more than 1.7 million episodes of care, supported by over 100 specialists and more than 1,200 healthcare professionals.
-- BERNAMA