$15 million invested in two medical centers

CareMed group to open 160-bed hospital and day surgery in Kesrouan and Beirut

The CareMed group will open the Kesrouan Medical Center (KMC), a 160-bed hospital along the main highway in Ghazir by the end of this year. It will also open the Beirut Surgery Center (BSC), a 21-bed day clinic in Mathaf by the first quarter of 2013.

In March, CareMed Holding obtained a $15 million loan from PROPARCO, a development financing institution, to fund the construction of the two facilities. PROPARCO is the private arm of the state-owned Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

The CareMed Group, chaired by Dr. Cesar Bassim, already includes the Centre Hospitalier du Nord, and the Centre de Traitement Medical, a radiotherapy center adjacent to it.

The two new centers will be run by the group’s hospital management arm, Health Care Management.

“Our market studies have shown that there is a strong demand for specialized hospitals in Lebanon, and the region as a whole,” said Dr. Ali Hajj, BSC’s managing director.

KMC will be a full-fledged hospital offering all kinds of healthcare services. The BSC will offer cosmetic and esthetic services and same day surgery procedures for all kinds of operations that can be booked in advance.

The BSC will be located on the premises of what used was the Advanced Medical Imaging Center, which CareMed group bought out earlier this year.

“Same day surgeries allow prompt admission and simplified discharge procedures, and thus provide obvious cost effectiveness,” Hajj said. The BSC will also offer radiology and laboratory services.

Hajj said that Lebanon is still considered a hub for hospitalization in the region: “This is largely due to the strong human capital and the history of expertise, along with the shortage in high-quality healthcare in neighboring countries.”

Reported by Abeer Darwiche