Fullerton Healthcare Corporation Limited (“Fullerton Health”) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Fullerton Health Philippines Holdings Corporation and Fullerton Health Philippines Pte Ltd have secured a US$40 million long-term loan facility with the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), a member of the World Bank Group, to further develop its vertically integrated managed care strategy in the Philippines.
The IFC investment will help improve the provision of affordable, quality health care in the Philippines and enhance efficiencies in the health maintenance organisation (“HMO”) market through increased integration between the financing and provision of healthcare.
Tam Chee Chong, Fullerton Health’s Chief Financial Officer, said: “Garnering the support of IFC as a long-term financing partner is a strong testament of what we have achieved thus far in the healthcare sector across Asia Pacific, and validates our strategic partnership with the Intellicare Group to deliver a holistic approach to managed healthcare in the Philippines.”
IFC’s loan will support the expansion of one of the leading HMOs in the country, significantly increasing its outreach. The expanding network will further help Intellicare increase training opportunities for health professionals in the Philippines, improving the skill level in this sector, and subsequently create jobs. IFC’s support will also include sharing of best practices within different areas of operations, including facilitating introductions within IFC’s network of healthcare clients.
“High-quality affordable healthcare is critical to the long-term sustainable development of Philippines. This project aligns with IFC’s development mandate and will help benefit the Philippines, a country with a wide gap in health insurance coverage,” said Vivek Pathak, IFC Director for East Asia and the Pacific. He added, “Growth of Intellicare and other companies in this segment will help reduce low and middle-income households’ reliance on out-of-pocket payments to fund healthcare expenses.”
IFC has invested more than US$3 billion to support more than 100 private sector companies in the Philippines since 1962. As of December 2017, IFC’s committed portfolio is at US$763.9 million, which focuses on reducing impacts of climate change, increasing rural incomes, promoting sustainable urbanization and helping address governance constraints.
Original source: IFC
Published on 12 September 2018
