Healthcare and medical hub in Iskandar Malaysia

 Johor government wants to promote medical tourism to realise Iskandar Malaysia to become healthcare and medical hub in the region, taking advantage of its strategic location in South East Asia and high quality services with cheaper medical bill and affordable healthcare compare to its competitor Singapore.

Johor Menteri Besar Khaled Nordin said that there are about 14 private hospitals in Iskandar Malaysia. Most of the facilities in these private hospitals received many patients from nearby countries like Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and regional countries.

KPJ Healthcare, a private hospital chain under Johor Corporation has been assigned by Johor government to draw a master plan associate to transforms Iskandar Malaysia into healthcare and medical hub in the region.

“With the right planning, we can turn Iskandar Malaysia into a medical tourism focused healthcare and medical hub as we are located next to Singapore. Besides of providing healthcare and medicines, services like sterilisation should also be looked into as the costs of such services tend to be higher in Singapore hospitals,” he said after launching the KPJ Healthcare Camp in Kampung Nelayan, Permas Jaya here yesterday.

“KPJ has four hospitals in Iskandar Malaysia and is indirectly linked to the state government. I am sure that with their expertise, KPJ are able to come up with an effective plan for a sustainable healthcare and medical hub for example in the next five years,” Menteri Besar Khaled Nordin said.

“We always talk about developing Iskandar Malaysia and the Johor state but it is not only restricted and focused on new housing developments. There should be a balanced development in the services and healthcare sectors as well,” he added.

Medical tourism has been popular in neighbor countries like Singapore and Thailand. Many Indonesians flight to Singapore every year for healthcare and medical checkup. Iskandar Malaysia should seize the opportunity of its expertise in healthcare and medical, affordable healthcare and strategic location to attracted Indonesian.

Columbia Asia Hospital at Afiat Healthpark

Healthcare and medical tourism