AC Health readies P3-billion cancer care hospital

THE healthcare arm of Ayala Corp. is set to open its P3-billion Healthway Cancer Care Hospital (HCCH) in Taguig City early next year, marking the full operation of what is said to be the country’s first specialty hospital for cancer.

“We plan to open our operations by phases,” said Jenara Rosanna F. Ong, HCCH chief operating officer, during a media briefing on Tuesday. “By first week of January [2024], we are targeting to open all our services, including operating room, intensive care units, and the wards.” 

Located at Arca South, the hospital was inaugurated on Nov. 24. HCCH is under the Healthway Medical Network, which is a part of the AC Health ecosystem.

The new hospital, which has five floors, offers 100 beds, 18 chemotherapy infusion units, four specialized operating theaters, two advanced endoscopy rooms, and two linear accelerators. It also features an expanded outpatient chemotherapy unit and an integrated outpatient department with a specialized women’s health center.

AC Health President and Chief Executive Officer Paolo Maximo F. Borromeo said during the media briefing that HCCH already has 200 doctors on its roster.

“Not all of them are practicing exclusively. We don’t demand exclusivity but we do demand commitment,” Mr. Borromeo said.

“Our vision is to be the leading private cancer care institution, providing world-class treatment but at lower cost, so we can extend the best value, private cancer treatment to a broader base of Filipinos,” he added.

According to AC Health, the launch of HCCH is in response to the need for “affordable and accessible cancer care services to Filipinos.” 

“We saw that over 100,000 cases a year were diagnosed, and estimated that at least another 100,000 were undiagnosed. Of those that were diagnosed, many diagnosed late stage, many left untreated due to the hopelessness and the massive financial burden,” Mr. Borromeo said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Borromeo said that Healthway Medical Network is set to open new outpatient centers in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao by yearend to early January next year, which would put its total outpatient centers to 15.

“We are opening the three new branches in December to January. What makes our model very unique is we are an integrated ecosystem. Everything is connected,” he said.

Mr. Borromeo added that there are no plans yet for AC Health to have an initial public offering (IPO). 

“Probably not in the near term. But for us at Ayala Corp., we also want to make sure that we are incubating businesses within the group,” he said when asked about the possibility of an IPO.

As of September, Ayala Corp. saw a 35% increase in its attributable net income to P32.31 billion from P23.90 billion a year ago as consolidated revenues improved 13.5% to P245.38 billion.

Shares of Ayala Corp. at the local bourse rose P5 or 0.77% to P657 apiece on Tuesday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave