The management of private hospital groups has been professionalised immensely since the 1997 economic crisis.

In the past, large hospital groups were started and largely run by doctors or their families. Today, many of these companies are listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand with professional managers, many without medical training.

Raymond Chong, who was recently named Samitivej Plc's managing director and CEO, said that today a managing director or CEO of an organisation did not necessarily have to be an expert in domain knowledge.

"They obviously must know the products and the services they are selling. Their key job is to think on a high level, bring people together and get the best out of the people around them," he said.

Chong, a Malaysian, graduated in accounting in Australia and worked for four years with Deloitte in Malaysia before returning to Australia about two decades ago.

"I moved into the healthcare industry by joining the St John of God Health Care System in Perth," he said.

The St John's group that became Australia's largest not-for-profit group was set up more than 100 years ago by seven Irish nuns sent to provide medical care to miners in Western Australia. "I joined St John's when the sisters decided to privatise themselves," he said.

Prior to the privatisation, the sisters had done an "amazing" job building up a significant portfolio of hospitals and investments throughout Australia.

"Three hundred nuns were running eight hospitals by doing everything themselves. Today they have 11 hospitals throughout Australia," he said.

In the late 1980s, the nuns decided to bring in consultants and completely revamp operations.

"They showed tremendous foresight," he said.

While working at St John's, Chong moved into hospital development and was charged with fully commissioning and opening a hospital just outside Perth.

In 1997, his talents were recognised by a head-hunter, and he was lured back to Malaysia.

"I joined the Sunway Group, which is a land-development and construction group headed by Jeffrey Cheah," he said.

The Sunway Group built large housing estates that required certain lands zoned for hospitals.

According to Chong the company wanted to add hospitals as a core business.

"It took us about two years to plan, develop and open the hospital," he said.

While building the hospital, the Sunway Group realised that the hospital business was more challenging than anticipated.

"They decided that one hospital was enough and they no longer wanted to make hospital construction and

operations a core business," he said.

Another Malaysian hospital group, the Pantai Group, which entrepreneur TY Lim had recently taken over from former prime minister Mahathir's son Mohzani, then lured Chong to its management team.

"We held the hospitals for four years before selling them to Parkway," he said.

During his stay with Pantai, another recruiter asked Chong if he was willing to consider going to Thailand with

this growing family and joining Samitivej's management team.

"My wife and I have three children, who are now 12, 11 and six," he said.

While in Malaysia, Chong quickly realised that Thailand's healthcare infrastructure was much more dynamic and holistic than other system in the region.

"The Malaysian and Singapore healthcare systems are much more clinically driven," he said.

Initially, Chong's family was unsure of the necessary lifestyle changes required for living here.

"After we spent a week visiting Bangkok, we knew that we could easily adjust," he said.

His three children are all attending the New International School of Thailand on Sukhumvit.

"They have made many friends and are very happy," he said.

The environment at Samitivej, which runs three hospitals on Sukhumvit and Srinakarin and in Sri Racha, was much different from his experience in Malaysia.

"The hospital group here was founded and run by doctors who have a passion for healthcare. In Malaysia, I was working for businessmen, who were more concerned with making a return on their investment," he said.

Because he started his healthcare career with the not-for-profit St John's healthcare group in Australia, Chong is much more comfortable in his current environment.

"To me healthcare is lot more than just making a profit. It must include a passion for doing something of greater value," he said.