Chief executive officer Att Thongtang  said the deal with the equipment makers would be completed this year.

"Innovative medical equipment changes fast with the high competition in the medical-equipment market. If we conclude the deal with the international firms, we will be the first hospitals in Thailand to get the new technology," Att said.

The hospital group would also save money by getting the equipment directly from the manufacturers rather than having to order through their more expensive local dealerships. The company has set aside Bt650 million of its Bt800-million investment budget for this year for buying new medical equipment, Att said.

Prasit Patana chief operating officer Kraivin Srikraivin added that the company had an investment plan worth Bt3.2 billion from this year until 2009 - Bt800 million this year and the remaining Bt2.4 billion from next year until 2009.

Kraivin said that Bt400 million of the Bt2.4-billion investment budget would be spent on computer and information-technology systems, and Bt1.35 billion on renovating the four hospitals in the group.

The company may increase its registered capital next year to raise the funds needed for its investment plan until 2009, and expects average growth of 25 per cent per year.

"Our new investments will affect our cash flow so we will raise funds from the stock market. We will not borrow for our new investments - that is a lesson from the financial crisis in 1997," Kraivin said.

Prasit Patana was a victim of the baht float in the 1997 financial crisis. Like other firms, its debts were mainly in US dollars, and its debt in baht terms skyrocketed from a few hundred million to Bt15 billion.

The company took more than seven years to rehabilitate its debt and now has total debts of Bt4.4 billion.

The company announced total revenue of Bt3.22 billion and net profit of Bt48.14 million in the first nine months of last year.

The company also changed its major shareholder from Dr Arthit Ourairat to Vichai Thongtang, who now holds 48 per cent in Prasit Patana Plc.

Vichai, who is now the company's president, said Prasit Patana would focus on domestic patients under the concept "World Class Quality for Thais", and as a result had to change its management team by appointing Dr Siri Gajarerndee as chairman, effective this month.

The group now has a total of 1,000 beds and 4,500 patient visits a day, with 90 per cent domestic patients and the remainder from other countries.

Vichai said the new management would change the business from a family business to a professional one because Dr Siri would have the authority to manage the group's business. "My responsibility will be only the group's policy," he said.

Vichai, who also holds a major stake in Paolo Memorial Hospital, said he was studying a merger between Prasit Patana and Paolo that would help the group's business through strong growth and cost-efficient management.

"We cannot say when this will happen, but it will be when our business is strong," he said. 

Somluck Srimalee

The Nation