The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

DOCTORS Hospital plans to launch stem cell therapy and enter the primary healthcare market during its current financial year, after profits for the year to end-January 2017 increased five-fold.

The BISX-listed healthcare provider said it planned to launch both initiatives at its Bahamas Medical Centre facility on Blake Road, having received the necessary approvals for one stem cell programme and another “in its final stages”.

Doctors Hospital’s 2017 annual report did not identify the types of stem cell treatment involved, but said: “It is envisioned that stem cell therapy will occur at the facility [Bahamas Medical Centre] in fiscal 2018, with one programme already receiving the necessary approvals and the second programme in its final stages of assessment and approval......

“We anticipate that in fiscal 2018 we will launch one of our primary care centres at this location, supported by increased specialist services to best serve the neighbouring communities.”

Joe Krukowski, Doctors Hospital’s chairman, told shareholders via the annual report that the launch of primary care services “will be a vital component in the continuum of care we provide.

“We will seek to provide our customers with multiple entry points for this level of care,” he added.

Doctors Hospital’s stem cell initiatives, in particular, represent a potential boost to the Bahamas’ national effort to make greater inroads into the medical tourism market while also exploiting legislation passed by the former Christie administration.

The healthcare provider’s move into primary care will effectively create a fully-integrated model, combining with its core business in secondary and tertiary care provision to potentially make Doctors Hospital almost a ‘one-stop shop’ for all medical needs.

The expansion comes after Doctors Hospital saw total comprehensive income for the year to end-January 2017 grow by 409 per cent or more than five-fold, from $702,790 to $3.578 million year-over-year.

The growth was driven entirely by the company’s main Collins Avenue facility, where profits more than doubled, increasing by 157.4 per cent to $4.778 million compared to $1.856 million the year before. The Bahamas Medical Centre’s net loss increased slightly compared to the prior year, rising from $1.153 million to $1.2 million.

An improved top-line drove Doctors Hospital’s improved profitability, with patient services revenue up $3.65 million or 7.4 per cent at $52.713 million.

“Patient days increased by 6 per cent from the previous year,” the annual report said of the main Collins Avenue hospital. “Increases in the Intensive and Intermediary Care Units accounted for 37 per cent of the change, and the balance in medical surgical and maternity.

“Total admissions to the facility were 4,114 in fiscal 2017 compared to 4,063 in fiscal 2016. The continued flat admission numbers and increased patient days are indicative of the trend toward a rising severity of illness. The average daily census increased to 33 patients per day from 31.2 in the previous year.”

Doctors Hospital’s total expenses grew by $818,452 or 1.7 per cent year-over-year, with salaries and benefits rising by $1.176 million or 5.6 per cent to $23.209 million. Due to the top-line growth, these fell as a percentage of patient net revenue from 44.3 per cent to 43.5 per cent.

At Bahamas Medical Centre, revenues rose by $28,015 or 1.9 per cent to $1.462 million. This slightly outpaced the increase in expenses, which jumped by 1.5 per cent or $43,479 to $2.819 million as a result of rising medical supplies costs.

Doctors Hospital is budgeting $7 million for capital spending projects in its financial year to end-January 2018, a sum more than double the prior year’s $3.1 million, as it bids to upgrade facilities and replace equipment.

“Bad debt expense, as a percentage of patient service revenues, decreased to 2.6 per cent for the year ended January 31, 2017, compared to 3.4 per cent the previous year,” Doctors Hospital said. “This represented a decrease of $316,808, or 18.8 per cent. This decrease is a result of a write-off of third-party receivables.

“The number of days revenue in accounts receivable at year-end (AR Days) for fiscal 2017 stand at 51 compared with fiscal 2016 at 43 days, and net receivables as a percentage of net patient revenue increased to 14.1 per cent from 11.8 per cent. These increases are a result of high activity in the months of December and January, and payments not received until after year-end.”