BIZ BUZZ: The Medical City compromise deal

It wasn’t easy, but the long running dispute in one of the country’s premier hospitals has finally been resolved.

We’re talking about The Medical City which will have a new majority owner in the form of international venture capital firm CVC Capital Partners which will take a 60 percent stake in the hospital’s Philippine businesses.

But what of one of The Medical City’s founders, Dr. Alfredo Bengzon, who was at loggerheads with hospital chair Jose Xavier “Eckie” Gonzales since 2018?

Biz Buzz learned that Dr. Bengzon will be returning to the health institution’s board as chairman emeritus, thanks to some deft maneuvering on both sides. This way, he will be recognized and honored for his key role in putting up The Medical City and helping build it to the institution it is today.

Meanwhile, Dr. Bengzon’s former right hand person in running The Medical City—his daughter-in-law Margaret “Gaget” Bengzon—has moved on from her main role of running the hospital’s Guam operations and is now the chief operating officer for Healthway Hospitals, a subsidiary of AC Health of the Ayala Group.

All stakeholders are hoping that this arrangement will finally work so that the hospital can move forward with its plans. Will it? Time will tell.

—Daxim L. Lucas

Razon’s gets Clark footprint

Billionaire Enrique Razon Jr. may have opted out of investing in the Clark businesses of Davao’s Dennis Uy in Clark, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have a footprint in the booming economic zone that straddles Pampanga and Tarlac.

Earlier this week, President Marcos broke ground on a new medical facility in the former US base that will be funded entirely by Razon’s Bloomberry Foundation.

Biz Buzz learned that the foundation has earmarked P500 million for the project. It will construct the first building of the medical complex which will be used initially as a general hospital, then later converted into a children’s hospital as the development progresses.

Clark Development Corp. allocated 5.7 hectares to Bloomberry for the health complex, and Bloomberry has, in turn, master-planned the property. Apart from the children’s hospital, it will also eventually have a heart center, a lung center, a kidney center and a cancer institute.

So it looks like the ports and gaming tycoon will have a foothold in Clark after all.

—Daxim L. Lucas