Island Hospital wins Medical Tourism Initiative of the Year - Malaysia at Healthcare Asia Awards 2022

This year also marks the completion of the 1st phase of the Island Medical City, a new hospital expansion block.

Island Hospital has bagged the Medical Tourism Initiative of the Year - Malaysia award at the Healthcare Asia Awards 2022 for its development of the first phase of Island Medical City (IMC) and for its initiatives and efforts in providing continuity of care to the hospital's health travellers during the pandemic despite having its country's borders closed to inbound travellers. The new infrastructure will serve as a new hospital expansion block with 300 more hospital beds adding onto its current capacity, to make it Penang’s first 600-bed private hospital.

Serving over 100,000 healthcare travellers annually pre-pandemic, the IMC is driven by the vision to be the first of its kind medical hub in Malaysia. It is designed to centre around health travellers' needs, and is complete with state-of-the-art medical equipment making it the largest and most advanced tertiary care facility in Penang. Upon full completion, the hospital will be equipped with a 1,000-beds, medical suites and other ancillary facilities, as well as a medical tourist hotel to cater to the growing demands of medical tourists to the city.

During the pandemic, Island Hospital introduced its teleconsultation service for health travellers to reach out to their trusted doctors. Due to the closure of international borders, the hospital made it seamless for patients to consult their doctors, to ensure continuity of care for patients especially those from abroad.To complement the teleconsultation service, medication delivery abroad is made available for patients requiring medications only. 

These initiatives gave the hospital an opportunity to go beyond the confined walls of a hospital to services patients who are unable to physically be at the hospital.

For inpatient services, Island Hospital introduced its routine chartered international flights from neighbouring cities directly into Penang, servicing only Island Hospital patients at an affordable airfare.

To date, Island Hospital has flown 17 flights and has served over 100 health travellers despite the logistical obstacles with pandemic. 

The awards programme aims to honour hospitals, clinics and other healthcare providers that have risen above the challenges and made a remarkable impact to their patients amidst the massive disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.