Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 8) — Small healthcare facilities must explore merging with major institutions in the industry to build their financial capacity and take advantage of the government’s target to expand health services across the Philippines, a boutique investment bank said.
In a statement Tuesday, Fortman Cline Capital Markets (FCCM) said the country’s healthcare industry was “highly fragmented” with multiple players in various segments, such as medical supplies distributors, pharmaceutical firms, hospitals, diagnostic centers, retail pharmacies, retail medical device/equipment suppliers, and health maintenance organizations.Consolidations and alliances are seen to emerge to allow the industry to become more efficient, respond faster to emerging trends in the healthcare industry as well as to the impact of the Universal Health Care (UHC) which was signed into law in 2019,” said Francis Del Val, managing director of Fortman Cline Management Services, a unit of FCCM.UHC implementation will increase competition between private and public sector by providing options. As the government increases investments, private hospitals that do not invest, may not be able to keep up,” Del Val said.
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Del Val said those independent hospitals that are experiencing financial challenges to expand are the ones “feeling the squeeze.They need help, some need access to bigger capitals to sustain their operations. Some of them, generational at times, need to divest. It’s the hospitals, the clinics in between that need help,” he said.
