Month: May 2022

Fresh from being recognized and awarded with the COVID Management Initiative of the Year Award from Healthcare Asia, AC Health continues to put together the vital pieces to realize its vision and commitment of bringing accessible and affordable healthcare for all Filipinos.

AC Health, a subsidiary of Ayala Corporation, through its QualiMed Hospital – Iloilo facility recently shared its plans for its In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Center and Integrated Practice Unit (IPU). Citing estimates that 1 in 10 Filipinos is affected by infertility and that 10% of those with infertility concerns will undergo IVF treatment as premise, Dr. Henry Tupas, Director and President of the Iloilo Fertility and Reproductive Care Center (IFER) presented key developments on the Iloilo Fertility & Reproductive Care Center Phase 2 Expansion Project which is the first and only Fertility and IVF Center in Western Visayas.

In accordance with the concept of a patient-centered integrated practice unit (IPU), the services to be offered at the Iloilo Fertility and Reproductive Care Center (IFER) is organized around the patient’s primary problem of infertility and providing the full cycle of care for the patient’s medical condition. According to Dr. Tupas, “It will offer assisted reproductive technology, cryopreservation and genetic testing with our very own, fertility doctor, Dr. Rey Castillo leading the way and with the guidance of QualiMed – Iloilo COO Dr. Nathaniel Chan, and QualiMed – Iloilo Medical Director Dr. James Woo.”

The presentation on the IVF IPU was made during the recent MDXperience Roadshow that kicked off last May 26 at QualiMed Hospital in Atria Park, Iloilo City. The event was also attended by Ayala Corporation President and CEO Fernando Zobel de Ayala, AC Health President and CEO Paolo Borromeo, Healthway Philippines Inc. President and CEO Jaime E. Ysmael, QualiMed Health Network Group COO Margaret Bengzon, Healthway Cancer Care Center Vice Chairman for Medical Advisory Dr. Manuel Francisco Roxas, AC Health Consultant Dr. Manuel Dayrit, QualiMed – Iloilo COO Dr. Nathaniel Chan, and QualiMed – Iloilo Medical Director Dr. James Woo.

Ayala Corporation President and CEO Fernando Zobel de Ayala also took the opportunity to reaffirm the Ayala group’s commitment to investing in healthcare, “At Ayala, nation-building has always been at our core and the pandemic has only reinforced our long-standing commitment towards improving lives and promoting development and growth for the country, which of course includes accessible and quality healthcare. The pandemic underpinned the importance of investing in healthcare and we at Ayala promise to continue doing so.”

AC Health President Paolo Borromeo for his part reiterated the Group’s commitment to healthcare, “We have a genuine desire to address gaps in the healthcare sector. Our belief is that healthcare is a fundamental human right. Creating an integrated healthcare ecosystem that will provide accessible and affordable healthcare for all Filipinos is the bold vision of AC Health.”

Emphasizing the importance of proactive and meaningful doctor engagement in the entire organization, Healthway Philippines Inc. President and CEO Jaime E. Ysmael in turn conveyed, “A key element of success to realize our vision to be among the major players in the hospital and clinics space is our Stakeholder Engagement or Stakeholder for Life Program. This program focuses on our three main stakeholders – you, our doctors, our patients, and our employees. As our partners in delivering quality care, our doctors play a critical role. Hence, we value very much the relationship and would like to continue to strengthen it. Our doctor engagement program supports the three main areas of a doctor’s needs, which are to be able to practice, learn and teach.”

During this time of constant change and transition, AC Health is committed towards improving lives and promoting development and growth for the Filipino people, which includes accessible and quality healthcare. Doctors play a crucial part on making this possible as they work together with their leadership team to achieve this goal.

Other QualiMed facilities that offer Integrated Practice Units are:

QualiMed – Tanauan, Batangas (GI/Gastro Center, and Acute Stroke Unit)

QualiMed Hospital – San Jose del Monte, Bulacan (Diabetes Center, Hypertension Center, Geriatric Center, AesthetiQ Center, Breast and Women’s Health Center, and Eye Center)

QualiMed Hospital – Sta. Rosa, Laguna (Aesthetic Center, Lifestyle and Wellness Center, Wound and Ostomy Care Center, and Neuroscience Center)

QualiMed Surgery Center – Manila (Women’s Health and Breast Center, Palliative Care Clinic, Wound & Ostomy Care Center, and Pain Management Clinic).

###

QualiMed is a comprehensive network of full-service hospitals, multi-specialty clinics, and a stand-alone day surgery center. QualiMed Health Network is part of Healthway Philippines Inc. and of the AC Health Group.

For further inquiries, you may reach us through:
Telephone: +63287080000
Email: contact.us@qualimed.com.ph
Website: http://www.qualimed.com.ph

###

AC Health

Ayala Healthcare Holdings, Inc. (AC Health) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ayala Corporation, and serves as the portfolio company for healthcare businesses. Its vision is to build an ecosystem that links every patient to a seamless healthcare experience. Its portfolio includes Generika Drugstore, the pioneer in generic retail pharmacies, IE Medica and MedEthix, major pharmaceutical importer and distributor, Healthway, a network of primary care, multi-specialty, and corporate clinics, and QualiMed, a comprehensive network of full-service hospitals, multi-specialty clinics, and a stand-alone day surgery center. AC Health has also invested in health technology solutions, most recently, HealthNow, a healthcare aggregator app that offers online consultations, medicine delivery, and clinic and diagnostic booking.

For information:
Nicole Tajanlangit
Corporate Strategy & Development
E-mail: ztajanlangit.ncb@achealth.com.ph

MANILA — Ayala Corporation successfully listed the second tranche of the company’s P30 billion debt securities program on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corporation on Thursday.

This issuance successfully raised P15 billion to refinance a P10 billion bond with an original maturity in May 2027. The remainder of the proceeds will be used to support Ayala’s investment program for 2022.

Amidst market volatility, the bond offering was met with high investor demand, raking total bids of P121.2 billion or 12.12 times oversubscription over the base issuance of P10 billion. This is the largest book a non-bank and non-government deal has seen in recent years.

“We are honored to have received positive investor response to this issuance that supports our liability management in a rising interest rate environment.  It also validates the market’s confidence in Ayala’s credit quality, while solidifying our balance sheet under volatile markets,” said Fernando Zobel de Ayala, President & CEO of Ayala Corporation.

“This is the largest Peso-denominated issuance by volume that we have seen from Ayala Corp,” said Antonino Nakpil, President & CEO of Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. “The size of the issuance has not fazed investors, whose demand for AC instruments triggered the oversubscription from the initial issue size of P10 billion.”

The Ayala group remains committed to helping ensure the vibrancy of the Philippine capital markets. Ayala Corporation, Ayala Land, and BPI have raised an aggregate of over P75 billion over the past two years. Ayala group bonds currently account for around 15% of the total tradeable value of corporate debt instruments in the country.

“We are thankful for the market’s continued trust in the Ayala group as the funds that we have raised will be helpful in enhancing our core value drivers, expanding our emerging businesses, and further unlocking value through our portfolio investments,” Zobel added.

“We are optimistic that Ayala Corporation will continue to be at the forefront as a reliable partner of government towards nation-building,” said Securities and Exchange Commissioner Kelvin Lester Lee.  

“With a diverse portfolio spanning from banking, real estate, telecommunication, renewable energy, water infrastructure, and electronics technology, Ayala is certainly in every aspect of our lives. It is truly one of the country’s oldest and most revered organizations that have stood the tests of time,” Lee added.  

For 2022, Ayala group allocated up to P285 billion in combined capital expenditure and investments to execute on the growth initiatives across its businesses. The group commits to support the continued expansion of its core value drivers Ayala Land, BPI, Globe, and ACEN. It will also scale up emerging businesses AC Health and AC Logistics to create new sources of growth and value.  

####

For more information:
YLA ALCANTARA
Head, Brand and Reputation Management
Ayala Corporation
e-mail – publicaffairs@ayala.com

MANILA — Healthcare Asia Awards has given the COVID Management Initiative of the Year (Philippines) award to Ayala Healthcare Holdings, Inc. (AC Health) for the latter’s integrated ecosystem approach in responding to COVID-19.

In a feature published on the leading healthcare magazine, AC Health was hailed for helping strengthen the Philippines’ COVID-19 response by leveraging its unique ecosystem to address the gaps and fulfill its mandate of providing quality, affordable, and accessible healthcare to Filipinos.

“To effectively manage the spread of the virus, AC Health launched a multipronged approach, establishing a strong presence across all patient touch points and providing end-to-end services to Filipinos,” the article reads.

Healthcare Asia Awards aims to honor hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare providers that have “risen above the challenges and made a remarkable impact to their patients most especially amidst the massive disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

AC Health President & CEO Paolo Borromeo, meanwhile, thanked Healthcare Asia for recognizing the company’s holistic approach to COVID management. “Thank you to Healthcare Asia for this amazing recognition. This is a testament to the dedication and commitment of all our frontliners at AC Health, and it fuels our commitment to improve healthcare for all Filipinos.”  

Borromeo added, “This recognition would not have been possible without the trust and support of our partners from the national government, the DOH, IATF and various local government units. While the pandemic did expose gaps in our healthcare system, it also uncovered opportunities for stronger collaborations between private and public sectors to build and scale up solutions faster and more effectively. We look forward to this continued partnership with the government.”

In the early months of the pandemic, AC Health led a consortium to invest in and scale up national RT-PCR testing capacities, which included 7 BSL-2 laboratories across the country, equivalent to an additional capacity for 5,500 RT-PCR tests per day.

As the pandemic continued, demand for inpatient COVID care rose and hospitals were overwhelmed. AC Health’s Healthway clinics continued operations to triage and service non-COVID related concerns and thus decongest hospitals. AC Health also converted its four QualiMed hospitals into COVID-19 referral facilities. More than half of QualiMed’s beds were dedicated to COVID cases, including ICUs.

AC Health also augmented the existing team of medical professionals with more staffing to help manage the increased demand. In addition, its pharma businesses, Generika and IE Medica/MedEthix, also continued to ensure adequate supply of medicines.

MedEthix was also the first to bring in Molnupiravir, an oral antiviral treatment for mild cases of COVID-19, into the country under a Compassionate Special Permit. This was then made available to patients across the network via Healthway, QualiMed, and the HealthNow super app.

With the arrival of COVID vaccines in 2021, AC Health launched COVIDShield, enabling it to administer over 770,000 doses of COVID vaccines (as of May 2022) for its partners within and outside of the Ayala group across 30+ sites nationwide.

AC Health is currently building the Philippines’ first dedicated cancer specialty hospital, which is expected to be completed by 2023. The 100-bed Healthway Cancer Care Center will offer a complete range of services from screening, diagnosis, treatment to post-cancer care. This facility will be equipped with 20 chemotherapy chairs, 4 operating theaters, and state of the art diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, optimized for cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment.    

###

AC Health

Ayala Healthcare Holdings, Inc. (AC Health) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ayala Corporation, and serves as the portfolio company for healthcare businesses. Its vision is to build an ecosystem that links every patient to a seamless healthcare experience. Its portfolio includes Generika Drugstore, the pioneer in generic retail pharmacies, IE Medica and MedEthix, major pharmaceutical importer and distributor, Healthway, a network of primary care, multi-specialty, and corporate clinics, and QualiMed, a comprehensive network of full-service hospitals, multi-specialty clinics, and a stand-alone day surgery center. AC Health has also invested in health technology solutions, most recently, HealthNow, a healthcare aggregator app that offers online consultations, medicine delivery, and clinic and diagnostic booking.

For further inquiries, contact:

Nicole Tajanlangit
Strategy and External Affairs
E-mail: ztajanlangit.ncb@achealth.com.ph