Real estate tycoon and former senator Manuel Villar is diversifying into the healthcare sector, with a plan to build a chain of hospitals with 3,000 beds across the country over the next five years.
Vitacare Healthcare Inc., the newly-formed unit of the Villar group, recently signed a partnership agreement with a group of doctors to construct a 100-bed hospital in Vista City in Daanghari, Muntinlupa that would cost P500 million.
The first hospital under the group will be branded as Vitacare Unimed Hospital and Medical Center.
Villar said the group could easily expand its hospital business as the company has the land bank for expansion.
“This will be moving very fast. We may have different partners or same partners for different locations,” Villar said.
It also identified 13 other locations for future hospital projects.
Among the potential locations are Paranaque City (Lake Front), Bataan (Balanga), Bulacan (Malolos and San Jose del Monte), Cavite (General Trias and Tanza), Batangas (Santo Tomas), Pampanga (San Fernando), Naga (Camarines Sur), Cebu (Talisay), Iloilo (Boton), Davao and Cagayan de Oro.
Villar said the company opted to build its own chain of hospitals, instead of acquiring existing hospitals, because it will contribute land to the projects. The Villar group will maintain majority ownership in these hospitals.
“We want to have a chain hospitals across the country and one big flagship hospital in Daanghari that will contain all the major facilities,” Villar said.
The group’s venture into hospital business is expected to complement its real estate development as it plans to develop several integrated mixed-use projects.
Villar said the construction Vitacare hospital in Daanghari would commence in May 2016 and would be completed in two years.
Villar group’s venture into hospital business signaled its readiness to compete with Ayala Land Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., two companies that are also aggressively expanding in the same space.
Metro Pacific has been acquiring and investing in existing hospitals as it targets to have 5,000 hospital beds in five years while Ayala Land in partnership with MerkadoGeneral Hospital Inc. is building 10 hospitals offering 1,000 beds and 10 satellite clinics over the next five years.