Columbia Asia Expands to New Continent with Columbia Africa

by Suman Gupta

Bangalore, India: Columbia Asia, one of the largest and fastest-growing healthcare companies in Asia, is expanding its operations to Africa to serve the rising demand from the continent’s middle class for affordable, modern and efficient healthcare facilities.

The company’s first facility in Africa – a 5,300-square-foot multispecialty clinic and diagnostic center – opened this week in Nairobi, Kenya, a capital city with more than 3 million people and in the midst of a surge in foreign direct investment.  The clinic is operating under a new brand, Columbia Africa.

Columbia Asia, part of Seattle-based Columbia Pacific Management, has 27 hospitals and one clinic in India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, built with an innovative business model focused on serving a rapidly growing middle class with modern and efficient multispecialty facilities located close to where patients live and work.

The new clinic in Nairobi specializes in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, gynecology, general surgery, orthopedics, ophthalmology and dental care.  The facility offers health checks, as well as telemedicine to allow patients to consult with specialist doctors at Columbia Asia hospitals.

The Nairobi clinic also has a patient services center to facilitate patients travelling for surgery at Columbia Asia hospitals in Asia, which had already been receiving a significant number of patients from East Africa. 

“Africa has become a growing market for us, as patients are increasingly seeking multispecialty, affordable healthcare services delivered at international standards,” said John Northen, Group Chief Executive Officer of Columbia Asia. “Kenya is the economic, commercial and logistical hub for all of East Africa, with Nairobi as a major center of growth and foreign investment, so the city was a great fit for our first Columbia Africa facility.”

Columbia Asia opened its first hospital in Malaysia in 1996 and over two decades has developed one of the largest hospital companies in Asia, with a focus on high-quality, affordable, standardized care. 

Columbia Asia is the only healthcare provider in Asia to operate hospitals in so many countries under a single brand, and one of the few large, multinational providers in Asia to build the vast majority of its hospitals itself.

With the addition of the Columbia Africa clinic, the company has 10,000 employees serving more than 2.5 million patients a year, with 2,200 beds across 27 hospitals and two clinics.

For more information about the Nairobi clinic, go to www.columbiaafrica.com.

To learn more about Columbia Pacific Management, go to columbiapacificmanagement.com.

About Columbia Pacific Management

Columbia Pacific Management (CPM), based in Seattle, oversees an international healthcare business that develops and operates hospitals, clinics and senior housing in Asia. With locations in China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia and Vietnam, CPM’s operating companies provide healthcare and senior care services in markets making up more than half the world’s population. All of these countries have rapidly aging populations, rising middle- and upper-middle-class populations, an under-supply of quality healthcare and senior care facilities, and increasing rates of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiac diseases – creating an unprecedented demand for world-class healthcare services and senior housing.

The company’s affiliates include Columbia Asia, operating hospitals in India and Southeast Asia; Columbia China, which is building a network of hospitals and clinics in China; Columbia Africa, which operates a clinic in Nairobi, Kenya; Cascade Healthcare, which operates senior care facilities in China; and Remote Medical International, which provides medical services and supplies to challenging locations around the globe.