| While growing up, Dr Kelvin Loh had dreamed of becoming an engineer, building and fixing machines. However, reaching a crossroads decades later, he pivoted to pursue medicine as a career. “Healthcare wasn’t the path I had always wanted to take. Truth be told, I was on my way to become a computer engineer, as I had received an overseas scholarship to study that discipline in the UK,” recalled the Chief Executive Officer of IHH Healthcare Bhd, which is dual-listed on SGX and Bursa Malaysia. “But I thought about it and decided that working to improve computer systems wasn’t really what I wanted to devote my life to - I wanted to help people.” As it turned out, Loh would fulfil these two aspirations - the desire to help patients and the passion to improve systems - in his career journey spanning more than two decades in the healthcare industry. |
Loh holds a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and a Master of Business Administration from the National University of Singapore. He spent the early years of his career as a general physician, until a growing passion to improve healthcare systems launched him on the management track in Singapore’s public healthcare sector.
During his days as a junior doctor, Loh had been taken aback by the delays and wastage in the healthcare system. “From both a patient’s and doctor’s perspective, it was something incredibly frustrating, and I resolved to bring systemic change to the medical world.”
“For that reason, I moved out of medical practice and started a healthcare administration job. It was hard to explain to people why I spent five years studying to become a doctor only to decide not to be one. But to me, something about finding ways to fix processes was just so inspiring,” he recounted.
The 48-year-old subsequently spent a decade serving in areas such as clinical services development, hospital planning and hospital operations.
In 2008, he joined IHH Healthcare, and held various senior management roles between then and 2017, before taking over as CEO of the Singapore Operations Division, now known as IHH Healthcare Singapore. In that role, he was responsible for the Group’s four multi-specialty tertiary hospitals - Mount Elizabeth Orchard, Mount Elizabeth Novena, Gleneagles, and Parkway East.
In 2017, Loh moved to helm Columbia Asia Group, overseeing its 28 hospitals across India, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. He rejoined IHH in July 2019 as CEO designate, assuming the position of Managing Director and Group CEO in January 2020.
True North
“Many would consider it unfortunate I took the reins of IHH right before COVID-19 struck. It was a tough and challenging time, but also an opportunity to reset things, and look at where we’ve done well and where we’ve not, so we can improve,” Loh noted.
“One lesson learnt is that even in the best efforts of mapping out trends and doing strategic planning, one cannot fully predict the future. Nothing could have exemplified this better than the pandemic. Hence, it’s important to build adaptability in the organisation, which in turn provides resilience.”
To achieve this, organisations must have a True North, a purpose that enables right decisions to be taken when unexpected situations arise, Loh added.
“For us, that comes from our vision to be the world’s most trusted healthcare services network. COVID-19 tested our resolve - but it was exactly that focus on making sure patients and staff can keep trusting us in the hardest of times, that we’ve been able to keep them safe and look after their livelihoods. That has enabled us to survive and recover strongly from the crisis.”
Listed on both Bursa Malaysia and SGX since July 2012, IHH Healthcare offers its patients a full spectrum of integrated healthcare services, ranging from clinics and hospitals, to highly specialised care and a wide range of acute medical services. The Group employs over 65,000 people across 80 hospitals in 10 countries.
Its geographical footprint spans Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey, and India, as well as Greater China, including Hong Kong. Its portfolio of trusted healthcare brands include Pantai, Gleneagles and Prince Court in IHH Malaysia; Mount Elizabeth, Gleneagles, and Parkway in IHH Singapore; Gleneagles and ParkwayHealth in IHH Greater China; Fortis, Global and Continental in IHH India, as well as Acibadem in Turkey.
“When I first took over, IHH was at a point where it needed to pivot for the next growth phase, and I set a bold target to double ROE over five years,” Loh noted, referring to return on equity, a key industry metric.
“One of my priorities was to come up with a Refreshed Strategy, which we unveiled in February 2020. This enabled us to respond swiftly to evolving patient trends, such as digitalisation and telemedicine, even before the pandemic, which allowed us to build on the trust our stakeholders have in us.”
Building Resilience
COVID-19, however, intensified the challenge of building resilience in the Group’s operations, which were most impacted at the height of the pandemic in April and May 2020 following national lockdowns.
“Despite this, we took on COVID-19 support services and navigated the pandemic with strict cost controls. As a result, we’ve reported a sustained recovery since June 2020,” Loh said.
“As a healthcare provider, our immediate and continuing priority lies in supporting governments across the world in their fight against COVID-19. This includes providing COVID-19 lab testing, allocating beds to treat COVID-19 patients, and running vaccination centres. In fact, our laboratories have already conducted more than 8 million COVID-19-related tests since 2020,” he added.
In retrospect, Loh is gratified by how his team pulled together to achieve their goals despite the hurdles. “Not only did we survive, we thrived, with our target to increase returns bearing fruit, and financial targets more than met. More importantly, we as healthcare providers made a real difference by stepping up and working hand-in-glove with governments.”
In the long run, he believes hospitals will continue to transform the face of healthcare, and meet patient demand for faster, affordable, and more convenient services. “The future of hospital care is one that will be both high-tech and high-touch,” he added.
Disruption from the pandemic has already generated the imperative to innovate and digitise. Despite being at the forefront of innovation, COVID-19 has accelerated IHH’s digital healthcare journey.
“We see increased investments in digitalisation and innovation as a host of new technologies are integrated into care delivery, such as telemedicine, artificial intelligence, genomics and precision medicine.”
Driving Value
Additionally, with the escalating cost of healthcare a concern in many countries, there’s increased patient focus on value, price transparency and accountability, Loh said.
“At IHH, we’re already leveraging cutting-edge technology - in 2018, we launched an AI-powered, predictive hospital bill estimation system to dynamically generate personalised, more accurate hospital bill estimates,” he added.
“This has empowered patients to make better-informed decisions on available treatment options and provided greater peace of mind and transparency. As a Group, we’re always committed to enhancing price transparency of our hospital charges.”
Apart from the Group’s day-to-day operations, Loh is also focused on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) targets.
“At IHH, we recognise our responsibility to the global community in contributing towards a healthy and sustainable future. We’re passionate about building a business that’s firmly anchored on making healthcare better for every patient,” he said.
A clear example of this is IHH’s Value-Driven Outcomes (VDO) global initiative, which identifies and predicts outcomes and costs of its care, using data to drive more value for patients. This programme has been rolled out for several common high-volume and high-impact medical procedures across five markets.
“There’s much to be done in terms of battling climate change, and we’ll continue to take major steps in this sustainability journey, which includes setting targets on our carbon footprint, emissions and waste management.”
| Given the intense and demanding nature of his role, there is much that occupies Loh, even into the wee hours. “Because healthcare is a traditional, hierarchical service, I worry that we’re too slow to evolve and too slow to respond to patients, who will no longer just be patient. They are, today, also consumers, consumers who want value, convenience and empowerment. Nonetheless, Loh makes it a point to carve out some downtime, which is spent exercising with his 10-year-old son and cooking for the family. “My advice to my son and staff is this: Do the best in whatever you choose to do at any point in time. See failure as a way of not doing something well, so that the next time, you can find a way to do it better,” he noted. “When you have exhausted all the ways of not succeeding, you can then discover the way to succeed.” |
IHH Healthcare Bhd
IHH is a leading international healthcare operator offering our patients a full spectrum of integrated healthcare services from clinics to hospitals to highly specialised care and a wide range of acute medical services. Our wide geographical footprint extends across our home markets of Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey, and India, as well as our key growth market of Greater China, including Hong Kong. Our portfolio of trusted premium healthcare brands includes Pantai, Gleneagles and Prince Court in IHH Malaysia; Mount Elizabeth, Gleneagles, and Parkway in IHH Singapore; Gleneagles and ParkwayHealth in IHH Greater China; Fortis, Global and Continental in IHH India; and Acibadem in Turkey. We employ over 65,000 people across 80 hospitals in 10 countries, with a vision of becoming the world’s most trusted healthcare services network.
The company website is: www.ihhhealthcare.com
Click here for the company's StockFacts page.
For the second quarter ended 30 June 2021 financial results, click here.
About kopi-C: the Company brew
Text: Jennifer Tan-Stanisic
Photo: Company file
This article was originally published in kopi-C, a regular column on the SGX Research website that features C-level executives of leading companies listed on Singapore Exchange. These interviews are profiles of senior management aimed at helping investors better understand the individuals who run these corporations.
For previous editions of kopi-C: the Company brew, please click here.
