Published on April 27, 2005

Bumrungrad Hospital on Sunday became the first Thai company to be featured on “60 Minutes”, the prestigious television news programme broadcast by CBS.

In the programme, Byron Bonnewell, a campground owner who lives in Shreveport, Louisiana, recounted how the hospital had saved his life.

A year ago, he explained, he had a heart attack and was told he needed to have an urgent bypass surgery to stay alive. Uncovered by health coverage, he estimated that the surgery would cost him upwards of $100,000 (Bt3.9 million), a sum he could not afford.

Desperate and fearing for his life, finally he chanced upon the Thai hospital.

“I was in my doctor’s office one day, having some tests done, and there was a copy of Business Week magazine there,” he told “60 Minutes”. “There was an article in Business Week magazine about Bumrungrad Hospital. I went home and logged on the Internet and made an appointment, and away I went to Thailand.”

It was after he had learned that the bypass surgery would cost him a little over an eighth ($12,000) of what it would back home in the United States.

The “60 Minutes” reporter described the hospital as a sort of United Nations of healthcare by virtue of the wide arrays of its foreign patients, thousands of whom come to Thailand to seek affordable yet high-quality treatment.

“It’s sort of Ground Zero. I haven’t heard anybody yet who’s told us that they take more than 350,000 international patients a year,” Curt Schroeder, the hospital’s CEO, said on the programme.

Bonnewell himself handpicked cardiologist Dr Chad Wanishawad to be his surgeon after learning on the hospital’s website that Chad had once practised at the National Institute of Health in Maryland.

“Every doctor that I saw [at the hospital] has practised in the United States,” added Bonnewell, who a mere three days after checking in the hospital was already on the operating table. Two weeks later he was back home.

He was feeling new. “[It feels] wonderful. I wish I’d found them sooner,” Bonnewell enthused. “Because I went through a year [without a bypass], I was in a bad shape. I couldn’t walk across the room.”

The nursing and aftercare were also top-notch, he added. “I found it so strange in Thailand because they were all registered nurses. Being in a hospital in the United States, we see all kinds of orderlies, all kinds of aides, maybe one RN on duty on the whole floor of the hospital,” Bonnewell offered. “In Thailand, I bet I had eight RNs just on my section of the floor alone. First-class care.”

That is just what Bumrungrad Hospital prides itself on: top-notch medical care. That, and affordable prices. What with less expensive labour costs and the absence of the threat of malpractice suits, the hospital can provide five-star treatment (from chemotherapy to plastic surgery) at two-star prices.

Kim Atwater from Bend, Oregon, was another satisfied interviewee at “60 Minutes”. While vacationing in Thailand, she decided to combine sightseeing with a facelift, she said.

The interviewer asked her whether she was nervous about having an operation done in Thailand.

“Yes, yes, I was somewhat hesitant about having any type of operation in a foreign country, and it turned out to be, I mean, it was beyond my expectations,” she said.

It was well within her travel budget: $1,500, including a private room. “It’s much nicer than any that I’ve ever stayed in the United States,” Atwater added. The rooms looked much more like hotel rooms than hospital rooms, she said.

“Part of the concept was to create an environment when people came in they didn’t feel like they’re in a hospital. Because nobody really wants to go to a hospital,” Schroeder said.

Bonnewell is planning to return later this year for another check-up. That will entail a gruelling 22-hour flight, but that may not be without its upside, either.

“We do have a very unique relationship with Thai Airways,” Schroeder said. “So you can buy a ticket [and] use frequent flier mileage to get your check-up.”

Post your comment to this story here