UNIVERSITI MALAYA HEALTH METROPOLIS | General News, Pictures & Updates [Archive]

nazrey

April 18th, 2012, 02:35 PM

EPP 6: Developing a health metropolis: A world-class campus for healthcare and bioscience
http://etp.pemandu.gov.my/Healthcare-@-Healthcare_-_EPP_6-;_Developing_a_health_metropolis-;_A_world-class_campus_for_healthcare_and_bioscience.aspx

Case for change
- University Malaya owns significant tracts of land, currently being used for low rent housing
- Opportunity to combine an urban renewal effort with a health metropolis concept to deliver better education, research and clinical care
- Other premier academic institutes such as Harvard, Stanford have combined education, research and care and created successful economic models and innovative centers
- UM is in a unique position to act as pilot for broader medical ecosystem rollouts

Strategic Approach
- UM to leverage an available tract of land on its campus to create a medical ecosystem (already underway)
- Rollout in three stages

Urban renewal:
Co-locate flagship tenants involved in care, research and education—goal to create self sustaining organism

Collaboration:
Drive synergies across tenants by cross pollinating human capital and sharing infrastructure costs

Renaissance:
Collectively move towards higher value add healthcare solutions for local and global, in process reverse the brain drain

Malaysia plans RM1.1b health metropolis
By Boo Su-Lyn October 25, 2010
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysia-plans-rm1.1b-health-metropolis/

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — Malaysia has ambitious plans to create a world-class health metropolis based at Universiti Malaya (UM) to serve as a critical part of the Asean healthcare ecosystem.

The entry point project (EPP) under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) — requiring an estimated investment of RM1.1 billion — aims to create a medical ecosystem comprising patient services, research and healthcare education located at a large campus, benchmarking global examples like Harvard University’s Longwood Medical Area and Stanford University’s Bio-X Centre.

Private sector tenants will fund 90 per cent of the investment while 10 per cent will come from the Economic Planning Unit’s (EPU) facilitation fund.

Infrastructure development is expected to start next year with the Selangor state government and Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) approving land zoning and construction plans.

The health metropolis targets to generate an incremental gross national income (GNI) of RM986 million and 4,400 jobs by 2020, according to details of the ETP released today.

Potentially interested companies include universities like UM, MAHSA University-College, medical centres like Pantai Group, International Specialist Eye Centre (ISEC), Kumpulan Perubatan Johor (KPJ), Gribbles and Forest Medical Centre, as well as multi-national company General Electric (GE).

The health metropolis targets to bring together healthcare education and research at UM as well as attract other institutes to deliver clinical care.

Organisations like the National Heart Institute (IJN), the International Medical University (IMU), government-linked companies like Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Sime Darby, a consortium of healthcare companies operating across the Asian continent called Columbia Asia, and regional bio-technology venture CellSafe International Group have also expressed interest in participating.

According to the ETP document, the Ministry of Higher Education may hand out research grants while the Ministry of Finance will provide tax incentives to companies that qualify under the health metropolis status.

The Land Transport Commission (SPAD) is also expected to build a mass rapid transit (MRT) station, provide public transport and approve the construction of new car parks in the health metropolis by 2015.

As part of the Asean healthcare ecosystem, the Greater KL Region is to focus on clinical services, pharmacology, education, research and health travel; the Northern Region (NCER) in Malaysia will focus on biomedical technology, education and research; the East Coast Region in Malaysia will focus on clinical services and education; the Southern Region in Malaysia and Singapore will focus on clinical services, education, research and health travel; and Thailand’s capital Bangkok will focus on clinical services and health travel.

Full regional liberalisation is targeted for 2025 with the Greater KL/ Klang Valley region developing linkages this year. Inter-cluster collaboration is scheduled for 2015.

Putrajaya also plans to mandate private health insurance for foreign workers that will cost employers an additional RM3 every month per foreign worker.

A one-off cost of RM5 million will be borne by the government to invest into system integration and to provide computer terminals in government hospitals to process insurance for foreign workers.

This EPP is estimated to generate a GNI of RM171 million by 2020.

The worker’s compensation regulation for foreign workers will be tabled for amendment by 2011, where the worker’s compensation insurance will cover occupational-related diseases and accidents that is to be paid by the employer, whereas medical insurance for non-occupational diseases and injuries will be paid by the foreign worker.

The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), however, has reportedly said that the health insurance premium should be borne fully by foreign workers.

The country’s current compensation payouts for foreign workers — which number at over three million people — are significantly lower than those given by Thailand and Singapore, which has caused a rise in foreign workers’ unpaid hospital bills and posed an increasing burden of healthcare costs on Malaysians.

Foreign workers left RM64 million of unpaid healthcare bills in the past five years, of which 19 per cent were from public hospitals, according to the ETP document.

The Ministry of Home Affairs will also consider enforcing compulsory insurance as part of the work permit applications for foreign workers, where regulatory amendments are set to be tabled by the end of next year.