Columbia Asia to invest $150 m on expansion.

Columbia Asia, pursuing a strategy to create clusters of hospitals in large urban areas, recently, said it planned to invest $150 million to expand its network to 34 hospitals and one clinic by 2018.

It now has more than 8,000 employees serving over two million patients a year in 26 hospitals and a clinic in Malaysia, India, Indonesia and Vietnam, a release from the company said.

Over the next four years, Columbia Asia proposes to open eight hospitals - three each in Malaysia and India and two in Indonesia. It had opened four hospitals over the last few months - at Bangalore and Ahmedabad in India and at Jakarta and Semarang in Indonesia.

'No other healthcare provider in Asia has hospitals in as many countries operating under a single brand,' said John Northen, CEO of the Columbia Asia group of companies.

Hindu