Thomson Hospital Iskandariah banks on Johor-Singapore SEZ hub

[SINGAPORE] Johor Bahru has the potential to become a medical hub rivalling other Malaysian cities such as Kuala Lumpur, as healthcare groups eye the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), said Thomson Medical’s group chief executive Melvin Heng.

The healthcare player, which is controlled by Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim, is capitalising on the establishment of the zone to develop Thomson Hospital Iskandariah – a 1.5-hectare (ha), multi-speciality healthcare institution in Johor.

The tertiary hospital will focus on areas such as oncology, orthopaedics, and obstetrics and gynaecology.

In an interview with The Business Times, Dr Heng, who is also an executive director, said the hospital had been in the works for some time, with some “starts and stops” over the years.

Thomson Medical, then privately held, inked a memorandum of understanding with mainboard-listed Rowsley in 2015 to develop a healthcare hub on that piece of land.