GEORGE TOWN, November 14 – One month after opening its doors for operations on 11* October 2022, the Peel Wing at Island Hospital is ready to celebrate its grand opening on 11 November 2022 with guest of honour, YAB Tuan Chow Kon Yeow, Chief Minister of Penang. The opening of the Peel Wing expansion, marks another milestone in the Island Medical City project. With 14 Operating Theatres and an expanded capacity of another 300 beds, the hospital is now the first 600-bed private hospital in Penang.
Equipped with the latest infrastructure and talented healthcare professionals to provide a range of medical and surgical services to its patients. Among the services that the hospital provides are personalised health screening, comprehensive care in oncological therapies, advanced minimally invasive general and cardiothoracic surgery, robotic-assisted surgeries, Al-guided rehabilitation and renal transplantation. At the Peel Wing, new services include Nuclear Medicine imaging with the Siemens Biograph mCT PET/CT scanner.
Radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery with the Varian TrueBeam radiotherapy system with HyperArc, while the new Rehabilitation & Physiotherapy centre is equipped with the DAVID Solution, an Al-guided physical and cardiac rehabilitation system. Dentistry also adds to the new services at Peel Wing. The popular health screening services have been relocated to Level 2 of the new wing and is now a full-fledged one-stop Health Screening Centre offering a better patient experience.
The Island Medical City project, is founded on a public-private partnership between the state government and the hospital to realise the shared vision of making Penang, the Medical City of Asia. In addition to the investments in technology and infrastructure for better delivery of healthcare to the community. The project has created long term opportunities for the upskilling of healthcare workers and support personnel.
As such, in addition to having new facilities and technologies to better serve the people of Penang and the Northern states of Malaysia, these expanded facilities marks yet another significant milestone in cementing Penang’s position as a leading medical hub of Asia and the preferred choice of healthcare travellers from around the region. In addition, it is estimated that in 2023 the economic spill over from healthcare traveller spending in Penang will be in excess of RM1 billion a year from upstream and downstream activities in hospitality, services, retail and transport sectors.
To enhance its reputation as a trusted healthcare provider in Malaysia, Island Hospital is committed to continuously improve the standards and quality of care provided to its patients. In addition to its on-going accreditation by the Malaysian Standards and Quality in Healthcare (MSQH). The hospital is also recognised by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) since October 2022 for its commitment to deliver the highest quality of care to its patients, based on international standards of healthcare assessment.
The hospital is also accorded with Stage 5 certification in HIMSS Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) which measures clinical outcomes, patient engagement and the use of electronic medical record technology within the organisation. In line with its expanding expertise, facilities and services, the hospital’s value proposition and brand identity has also evolved. Island Hospital has matured from and a home-grown value for money healthcare centre, to being the best in class, serving the patients from around the region.
And now towards a Regional Quaternary Care hospital which offers advanced level of specialised and niche treatments. It will be supported by cutting edge technology, high tech machines, artificial intelligence (Al), robotics to treat very complicated diseases especially in Orthopaedic and Spine, Neurosciences, Cardiac Health and Cancer. In 2019, 1 in 5 Indonesian healthcare travellers to Malaysia were treated at Island Hospital. At the state level, post-pandemic, the hospital has bounced back and now accounts for more than half of all healthcare travellers to Penang.
This is an achievement recognised by the MHTC in its shortlisting of Island Hospital as the only hospital in Penang in the Flagship Medical Tourism Programme. The Flagship Programme has been the perfect step forward for Island Hospital as it aligns with its future plans, the Island Medical City. This is but the first step towards the future phases to build up to 1000 beds. Endorsed by the Government and spearheaded by the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC).
The Flagship Medical Tourism Hospital programme is a concerted effort that aims to positively impact and propel the private healthcare sector into a future-forward paradigm and ultimately increase Malaysia’s healthcare profile in curating exceptional patient experiences guided by global standards. According to Mod Daud Mod Arif, Chief Executive Officer of the MHTC, “This iconic Flagship Medical Tourism Hospital Programme is set to accelerate industry growth towards sustainability while elevating Malaysia Healthcare as a world-renowned global healthcare brand that attracts healthcare travellers from around the globe.
Subsequently, the programme will empower our private healthcare players to deliver seamless end-to-end patient experiences anchored upon outcome-based medical excellence, service excellence best practices, and international branding towards delivering the Best Healthcare Travel Experience by 2025.” Island Hospital remains deeply committed to give back to the community of Penang and with the opening of Peel Wing will continue in its engagement with the local community starting with a series of workshops and programmes for the upcoming World Diabetes Day on 14th November 2022.
Apart from on-site activities, the hospital is also currently giving complimentary full cancer profile tests to all Premier Health Screening packages purchased online from their website at https://packages.islandhospital.com/ As a partner hospital for the Penang Bridge International Marathon, the hospital’s doctors are hosting public health talks to participants to prepare them after a long hiatus from the competitive running scene. For a more comprehensive check-up, participants can also sign up for a body assessment screening package consisting of bone densitometry and full body composition analysis tests.
