Connect - Parkway Pantai

Confidence30Confidence 31ConnectConnectThank you for taking the time to chat with us, DrLim. First of all, as we move into the New Year, isthere anything you would like to say to our readers,the employees of ParkwayHealth, and what are yourwishes for 2009?Well, definitely I want to wish all of our staff a very HappyNew Year, and I hope it will be a prosperous, fruitful andrewarding year for all of us, and for ParkwayHealth. 2008has been a rather eventful year; my wish in 2009 is to seea less turbulent year on the global economic front andfewer natural disasters.What is the direction in which ParkwayHealth will beheaded in 2009?ParkwayHealth, like all other companies, will be preparingourselves for a global economic storm. We will be developingour capabilities to enable us to better serve our patientsand develop future market opportunities more effectivelyfor long-term regional growth, ensuring that the Groupemerges stronger from this turbulent period.In 2009, besides continuing to provide the bestpossible clinical care at our existing hospitals, our keypriorities will include forging ahead with constructionand development of our Novena hospital, and workingwith our partners in Abu Dhabi on the upcoming DanatAl Emarat hospital.Up Closeand PersonalWe sat down with Dr Lim Cheok Peng,Managing Director, Group President andChief Executive Officer of Parkway Holdings,to find out more about his hopes andplans for the company and its employees.Does that mean that we can expect more managementdeals similar to the one to manage a hospital inAbu Dhabi?Certainly, if the opportunity arises and if it makes businesssense, Parkway will capitalise on such opportunities. Afterall, The Business Times did recently call the Group “theRitz-Carlton of hospitals”! So we will definitely continue toexplore such business opportunities as they arise.ParkwayHealth is internationally renowned forour clinical outcomes, especially when you considerthat our outcomes exceed international benchmarkingstandards. That, plus the expertise of our doctors and ourexperience with international patients also contributed toParkwayHealth being chosen by our Abu Dhabi partnersto manage the Danat Al Emarat hospital, and we areconfident that we will be able to attract more invitationsfor international collaborations.Such collaborations will allow us to export ourinternational expertise and expand our brand footprint,building up recognition of our “ParkwayHealth”master brand.There has been talk that Parkway is having somefinancial concerns. What are your views on this?Let me state here categorically that Parkway has alwaysbeen prudent in managing our resources, thus we are notin any sort of financial trouble. I wouldlike to assure all of our employees andshareholders that Parkway’s financesremain healthy and our developmentprojects will be executed in a timelyand prudent manner.The recent optimisation ofcorporate services and Singaporeoperations has led to peopledoubting our business capabilities.What are your thoughts?I’d like to urge all of our employeesnot to be worried over such rumours.We remain committed to our newhospital at Novena, as well as to allour other hospitals in Singapore.Thus, in 2009 and over the nextfew years, we will be upgrading ourSingapore hospitals progressively toensure that our premier hospitalscontinue to deliver the best patientcare and clinical outcomes. In fact,renovations at East Shore have alreadystarted since November 2008 and weWe are committed toour existingSingapore operationsand expandingour network.of the many pre-emptive measuresthat we are taking to enable theGroup to navigate through currentmarket challenges, increase ourfuture competitiveness and buildon our leadership position inproviding the highest quality ofpatient care and clinical outcomesfor all patients. Other measures wehave been implementing includemaximising operational synergybenefits from site to site across Asia,implementing economies of scalethrough centralized procurement,optimizing labour productivity, andfreezing overall business travel.Before we end, do you havelast words for the staff ofParkwayHealth?I’d like to thank all of our staff, doctorsand partners in Parkway for being sosupportive of the organisation and Ilook forward to your continued support.I want to assure everyone that we arehave also recently completed renovations of a maternity already looking beyond the economic gloom to brighter daysward in Gleneagles Hospital. Our new hospital at Novena ahead. Thus, we have implemented Project Parkway 2013,will strengthen our network of hospitals in Singapore with a working team, Team Radix (Latin for ‘new beginning’),and provide our doctors with an even wider range of who is committed to reinventing ParkwayHealth for 2013services and facilities within the ParkwayHealth system. and propelling us into that year and beyond as the globalUpgrading our Mount Elizabeth Hospital will be carried leader in value-based integrated healthcare.out progressively once Novena is commissioned. Mount Specifically, Team Radix is looking into improving theElizabeth Hospital will continue to attract regional ways in which we source for supplies and pharmaceuticals;patients as we have the best specialists there and we contract for services; measure and manage the productivitywill support them and uplift Mount Elizabeth to a world of our processes; and invest in information technology so asclass hospital.to allow us to work smarter, not harder.The reduction in workforce does not mean that With Team Radix on the job, I believe we can all lookthe management has a hidden agenda of getting rid forward to a bright and promising future for Parkway.of Parkway’s hospitals in Singapore. Instead, it is one Parkway will emerge stronger and better.