Dr. Num Tanthuwanit, the former CEO and medical director of Bangkok’s Bumrungrad International Hospital, has recently taken over as president and CEO of AC Health.
His mandate: grow the business, modernize its operations and open new markets, including medical tourism.
That last item makes his appointment interesting. His Bumrungrad background gives Ayala an executive familiar with the business of treating patients who travel across borders for medical care.
Dr. Num also headed Indonesia’s OMNI Hospitals Group and worked with EY-Parthenon’s healthcare strategy and transactions practice. His experience spans clinical medicine, hospital management and the investment decisions behind healthcare expansion.
For Ayala, the challenge is to turn an expanding collection of hospitals, clinics and pharmaceutical businesses into a network capable of serving more patients while delivering consistent standards of care.
Medical tourism would add another dimension: attracting patients from overseas and giving Filipinos who seek treatment abroad more reasons to consider options at home.
Doing that requires more than new facilities. Clinical outcomes, specialist expertise, patient coordination and confidence in the institution matter. Dr. Num’s appointment suggests these will carry greater weight as AC Health charts its next stage.
Meanwhile, word from inside the conglomerate is that a large foreign medical group is set to partner with AC Health soon, potentially bringing a substantial infusion operating expertise.
The prospective partner’s identity, the extent off the partnership, and the transaction timetable remain unconfirmed. But a medical operator as partner could offer expertise in hospital systems, specialist services and international patient networks.
AC Health has already announced an investment agreement with Singapore’s ABC Impact for an approximately 16 percent minority stake. That disclosed transaction provides context for the latest market talk, but does not establish that the rumored medical group investment has been agreed.
If the additional partnership materializes, Ayala would have both an experienced healthcare chief and another source of expertise to support its ambitions.
Senior Reporter
