MPIC takes over GenSan’s St. Elizabeth Hospital

Manuel V. Pangilinan

Businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific group has added a 14th hospital in its nationwide healthcare chain with the acquisition of a majority stake in 248-bed hospital St. Elizabeth Hospital in General Santos City.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, infrastructure holding firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp. said its hospital arm Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings Inc. (MPHHI) had bought 54 percent of St. Elizabeth Hospital Inc. (SEHI) from the Veneracion family.

The deal consisted of 108,350 shares priced at P1,642.04 per share for a total block price of P177.91 million.

In the near future, the disclosure said MPHHI may infuse additional capital to SEHI, to expand and improve its facilities and purchase the latest medical equipment of this tertiary level hospital. The group also stated intention to increase its ownership to 80 percent.

Located along Santiago Boulevard corner National Highway in General Santos City, the hospital traces its roots to 1962 when Dr. Jesus Veneracion Sr., fresh from his post-graduate training in General Surgery in St. Elizabeth Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, started a 25-bed hospital, the first in this area which was then called Dadiangas.

The hospital has since then expanded and upgraded its service capabilities. It was the first healthcare institution in the region to be ISO 9001:2008 certified.

“Our family is very pleased and excited to partner with MPHHI, the largest private hospital group in
the country, and we welcome the Metro Pacific Group to General Santos City,” Antonio
Veneracion, spokesperson for the Veneracion family.

“We wanted to work with no less than the biggest and the best in the industry in leap-frogging to the next level of growth for SEHI, which my parents nurtured into the top hospital in the city for the past 55 years. We have seen how MPHHI has not only preserved but enhanced the legacy of all the hospitals in its portfolio and how well they work with their shareholder partners. And so we are very confident that our vision of firmly establishing SEHI as the premier hospital in Region XII will soon be fulfilled,” Veneracion added.

MPHHI president and chief executive officer Augusto Palisoc Jr. said this marked MPHHI’s third hospital investment in Mindanao, adding this was the group’s “own small contribution to the government’ thrust to spur economic development in Southern Philippines.”

“We thank the Veneracion family for allowing us to invest in their hospital, and for their continued active participation in both the board and management of SEHI,” Palisoc said.

Veneracion has been appointed chief operating officer of the hospital, while siblings Ronaldo Veneracion and Ma. Helena Garcia would continue as medical director and chief of clinics, respectively.

Palisoc also announced the appointment of one of Metro Pacific’s special projects director, Celso Bernard Lopez, as president and chief executive officer of SEHI.

“We are confident that with this management team and SEHI’s excellent doctors and staff, SOCCSKSARGEN (Region 12) will soon have access to the best and most complete array of healthcare services,” he said.

Since investing in Makati Medical Center a decade ago, MPHHI now has a bigger footprint nationwide. It has five other provincial hospitals namely: Davao Doctors Hospital, Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod, Central Luzon Doctors’ Hospital in Tarlac, West Metro Medical Center in Zamboanga, and Sacred Heart Hospital in Malolos, Bulacan.

On the other hand, eight of MPHHI’s hospitals are located in Metro Manila. Apart from Makati Medical Center, it also operates Asian Hospital, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Manila Doctors Hospital, De Los Santos Medical Center, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Marikina Valley Medical Center, and Jesus Delgado Memorial Hospital.

Completing its healthcare portfolio are two healthcare colleges Davao Doctors College and Riverside College in Bacolod, two primary care clinics Megaclinic in SM Megamall Ortigas and TopHealth in SM San Lazaro, and a newly built cancer center in joint venture with Lipa Medix in Batangas.