US healthcare firm eyes up to $500-M investment for PH tertiary hospital
According to the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs of the Philippines (OSAPIEA), BSMH plans to expand its GBS operations in Manila to approximately 1,200 professionals from its current team of 170.
BSMH's subsidiaries Nordic, which provides information technology services and Bon Secours Mercy Health Philippines, provide back-end support services to the company's global operations covering over 50 hospitals, 1,200 care sites across the US and Ireland, and a global workforce of over 60,000.
It is also set to invest between $300 million to $500 million to develop a tertiary hospital, which was conveyed during a meeting with President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. in Washington earlier this week.
"As a $13-billion integrated Catholic health delivery system based in the United States, we're proud to expand our global reach and deepen our existing commitment in the Philippines," BSMH president and chief executive officer John Starcher said in a statement.
"(W)e are excited to begin the aggressive exploration of developing state-of-the-art healthcare delivery services to provide unique, premium access to Filipinos and our own associates. That said, I couldn't be more bullish on bringing new, premium healthcare services to the Philippines," he added.
Should the investment be realized, it would make one of the biggest private-sector healthcare investments by a US-based system in the Philippines.
"This is a strong vote of confidence in the Philippines and a transformative opportunity for our healthcare and services sectors," Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Frederick Go said.
"We will work closely with BSMH to help turn their plans into reality. Their investment will generate meaningful jobs and help deliver world-class facilities, advanced medical equipment, and high-quality healthcare for the Filipino people," he added.
Go, along with economic officials, were in Washington partly to negotiate a better tariff deal with the United States.
US President Donald Trump has since announced a reduction on the tariff rate for goods from the Philippines to 19% from 20% previously with zero tariffs for US goods, after what he called a "beautiful visit" by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
Marcos, the first Southeast Asian leader to meet Trump in his second term, said the agreement was a "significant achievement," as he clarified that the zero tariffs will only apply to certain markets. — VDV, GMA Integrated News
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