Bangkok Hospital Pattaya receives Healthcare Asia’s trophy for Thailand’s Hospital of the Year Award

Their COVID-19 strategies to adjust to the ‘new normal’ has led them to adjust to the pandemic’s new demands and challenges successfully.

Bangkok Hospital Pattaya (BPH) has always prided itself as a centre of excellence in trauma, heart and brain care. Located in Pattaya, a seaside holiday destination, around 40 percent of their patients are international tourists who visit Pattaya City. Some of these visitors, however, would retire in the area, and lead unhealthy lifestyles. This increases their chances of getting NCD (Non-Communicable Diseases) such as hypertension, diabetes, and functional gastrointestinal disorders. 

As a hospital committed to being the leader in providing an international standard, efficient and ethical high-quality care through a dedicated healthcare team, effective leadership, and state-of-the-art technology, BPH recruited more than 100 full-time specialists and have allowed them to invest in modern high-tech medical equipment to help specialists make accurate diagnoses and give the best available treatments to the patients. BPH is the first hospital in the Eastern Region with all these technologies, equivalent to those used in the major hospitals in Bangkok.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically shifted the number of tourists and international patients in their care. This has accelerated the pace of change, and prompted them to create strategies to adapt to these challenges in three phases: 

Phase 1 - Resolve (Mar-April) included setting up a War Room and expanding an operational nerve centre focused on major areas of operational continuity. They also set up ARI Clinic, Cohort Ward, Cohort ICU, and performed patient transfer drills. This phase also provided health education to the Pattaya community and searched for ways to engage patients through the digital platform. 

Phase II – Retain (May-Dec) included strategies to help recover the business and resume patients & revenue. More than 30 Survival Projects have been accelerated throughout Y2020. 

Phase III – Reform (Oct.2020 - 2021) included scaling up operations once the worst of the crisis is over. The strategic foresight is initialised to reshape the business and to grow sustainability. 

At the end of Y2020, the hospital observed that some types of patients such as Thai and expatriate patients rebounded in Q3-Q4. The largest portions of revenue and visits lost were from Meditour-agency and Tourist respectively. Still, their earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) is 25%, which is the highest in BDMS Group. Moreover, the telemedicine and home healthcare patients also increased accordingly. 

These strategic and successful efforts to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining their standards to provide the highest possible satisfaction for their patients and customers have led Healthcare Asia to award BPH Thailand's Hospital of the Year Award this year.

Moving forward, BPH doesn't plan to stop its strong momentum in 2021 and is fully committed to becoming the most trusted private healthcare provider in Thailand by 2022.

Hear from Dr. Seeharach Lohachitranont, BPH's managing director, as he speaks about how the hospital strived to become the centre of excellence in delivering remarkable patient care services in Thailand.