Medical tourism eyed as source of income in health-care sector
An international health-care investor is the latest in a string of entrepreneurs calling for public hospitals to increase revenues by providing medical services to paying patients from outside Canada.
Jack Shevel, founder of a company that operates private hospitals in South Africa and the United Kingdom, says Ontario hospitals could zero in on procedures — such as hip and knee surgeries, which cost more outside Canada — for out-of-country patients.
“If there’s a possibility for hospitals, if they have capacity, to augment their income, I think that should be encouraged,” he said in an interview.
Mr. Shevel, president of Global Healthcare Investments and Solutions, of San Diego, says he sees health-delivery models changing, creating an opportunity for the private sector to do between $1 billion and $2 billion worth of health business in Ontario within the next few years.
In June, Mr. Shevel’s GHIS acquired 53 per cent of Toronto-based Centric Health, a diversified health care company whose holdings include Don Mills Surgical Unit, one of Ontario’s eight private hospitals.
Mr. Shevel says he believes Canada’s health care will remain publicly funded, but the private sector will take on more of a role in delivering care. Centric lists medical tourism — bringing patients into this country for care — as a potential target.
“It’s (medical tourism) not a multibillion-dollar industry, but I think with time it could grow,” said Mr. Shevel, founder and former CEO of Netcare Ltd., operator of the largest private hospital group in South Africa and the largest private acute-care hospital provider to the National Health Service in the U.K.
Several public hospitals in Ontario already work with companies such as CMN Inc., an international health management company that helps clients access medical services around the world. In Toronto, for example, the Thornhill-based firm has an agreement with University Health Network to refer international patients for medical procedures they are unable to get in their home country.
“Certainly by no means is a Canadian waiting in line while a foreigner is getting health care,” said Peter Lozier, executive vice-president of CMN…
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Posted by John Malloy
on May 3 2010. Filed under International.
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