http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapor...ry_754045.html

Parkway plans to rename Novena hospital

But proposed use of Mount Elizabeth brand upsets some doctors

Published on Jan 11, 2012

By Melissa Pang


HEALTH-CARE group Parkway Pantai is planning to change the name of its new hospital in Novena, but will have to face the wrath of some doctors if it does so.

The group owns and runs four hospitals - its crown jewel Mount Elizabeth near Orchard Road, Gleneagles in Tanglin, Parkway East in Joo Chiat, and the new Parkway Novena in Novena, scheduled to open in July.

Each hospital also has medical suites, which Parkway Pantai sells to doctors.

If all goes as planned, the $2 billion Parkway Novena Hospital will be called Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital.

The move is believed to allow the new hospital to leverage on the Mount Elizabeth brand name.

But some doctors practising at Mount Elizabeth are unhappy about this.

Emotions ran high at a monthly meeting between Mount Elizabeth doctors and management yesterday, when the proposed name change was announced.

The unhappiness is mainly from those doctors who have been practising at Mount Elizabeth for a long time. They feel they have had a large role to play in shaping the reputation that the hospital enjoys today, and are unhappy that the brand name is now being transplanted and diluted.

Others are worried that the name change would create confusion among patients and taxi drivers. Potential patients might also be driven away from the original Mount Elizabeth.

Among those who are unhappy is renowned cardiologist Leslie Lam, who has been practising at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre since 1988.

'Mount Elizabeth's reputation was built up over time,' he said yesterday. 'By using this name, it's like taking a shortcut and riding on the hard work of doctors who have been there a long time.'

He added: 'A lot of doctors feel very strongly about it and are willing to take an injunction to fight it in court. They cannot take the name away like that.'

He disclosed that a group of doctors is planning legal action.

Parkway Pantai was unable to respond to queries by press time.

Another doctor, who has been practising at Mount Elizabeth for more than 10 years and declined to be named, said: 'Patients visit Mount Elizabeth because of its doctors.'

However, doctors with existing clinics at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre and who have also bought units at the new Novena hospital were more ambivalent.

Dr V.P. Nair, a cardiologist who has been at Mount Elizabeth since 1983, said: 'Mount Elizabeth is a brand that is known widely in the South-east Asian region. There is no reason it should not be done. But I don't mind it either way.'

He added that the Novena hospital's feature of having just one-bedded rooms could be a boost to Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

Most patients at Mount Elizabeth request single rooms but there are not enough of these. By having a second Mount Elizabeth, these patients' requests could be met, he said.

Doctors who do not own clinics at Mount Elizabeth but will be opening clinics at Novena were naturally supportive of the name change.

A colorectal surgeon now at a public hospital but who will be practising at a clinic in Parkway Novena's medical suites said the renaming signals Parkway Pantai's commitment to making the new hospital a success.

'The name obviously makes a difference, and it only makes sense to leverage on something they have already had success with,' he said.

Parkway Pantai is majority-owned by Integrated Healthcare Holdings, the health-care investment holding company of Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional.

The group owns and runs the hospitals but does not employ doctors. Doctors who wish to use hospital facilities apply for accreditation.

Medical suites at Mount Elizabeth are among the most expensive in town. Last November, a doctor paid about $5 million for a unit.

The Novena hospital is one of several new medical facilities opening in the area. Property group Far East Organization recently opened the Novena Specialist Centre medical suites, in addition to its Novena Medical Centre.

The Farrer Park Company's Connexion at Farrer Park, a development that includes a hospital, hotel and medical suites, will open next year.

[email protected]