The site and building of Jeju Greenland International Hospital, which had been pushed as the country's first for-profit hospital but came up for sale at auction, have gone to Indang Medical Foundation. Indang Medical Foundation is reviewing a plan to operate Greenland International Hospital as a general hospital.
According to the industry on the 5th, Jeju District Court the previous day confirmed Indang Medical Foundation, a medical corporation, as the successful bidder in the auction of the land and building of Greenland International Hospital in Topyeong-dong, Seogwipo.
The successful bid price was 20.4769 billion won, about one-third of the appraised value of about 59.6 billion won. After three failed bids, it was awarded in the fourth round with a single bid. Once the remaining payment of about 18 billion won is completed, ownership will transfer.
A for-profit hospital is a hospital established with corporate or private capital where investors can recoup revenue. In 2015, a subsidiary of Greenland Holding Group Company Limited (Greenland Group), a Chinese state-owned real estate developer, created Greenland International Hospital in Jeju Healthcare Town and received approval for establishment from Jeju Province. However, controversy grew over the fact that the country's first for-profit hospital would be operated with Chinese capital, and it was left idle without even opening.
In Dec. 2018, Jeju Province granted a license on the condition of "no treatment of Korean nationals," but Greenland Holding Group Company Limited (Greenland Group) argued that "the licensing condition is illegal." When Jeju Province canceled the license on the grounds of failure to comply with the Medical Service Act's 90-day opening deadline after approval, the group filed a lawsuit and continued the legal battle up to the Supreme Court.
Later, Greenland Holding Group Company Limited (Greenland Group) sold the hospital building and site to Diana Seoul, a private corporation. Diana Seoul then sought to convert Greenland International Hospital into a nonprofit hospital, but the effort was halted due to funding issues, and the site and facilities came onto the auction market. With this successful bid, it effectively found a new owner after drifting for about 10 years since establishment approval.
Indang Medical Foundation is a medical corporation that operates hospitals in the capital area and the Busan area, including Busan Bumin Hospital, Haeundae Bumin Hospital, Bumin Hospital Seoul, and Gupo Bumin Hospital. It began as an orthopedic clinic in Busan in 1985, expanded its scale step by step, and converted into a hospital in the mid-1990s.
In the medical community, some believe Bumin Hospital could set this up as a smart hospital that incorporates ICT (information and communication technology). Jeong Hun-jae, CEO of B+Healthcare (orthopedic surgeon and former head of Bumin Hospital Seoul), the eldest son of Chair Jeong Heung-tae of Indang Medical Foundation, launched Bigmove Ventures and has continued to invest in ICT in the bio-healthcare field, such as artificial intelligence (AI) for medical image analysis and wearable robots, and actively invested in introducing new technology into hospitals.
A foundation official said, "There are still several procedures remaining, so we are at the stage of shaping concrete plans," and added, "Whether we will operate it as a general hospital or as a specialty hospital that attracts foreign medical patients will be decided in communication with Jeju Provincial Office, in the direction desired by Jeju residents."
Considering the remaining administrative procedures, it appears it will take a year to actually open. A hospital official said, "It took about a year just for administrative procedures to open a health screening center (Bumin Prestige Life Care Center Magok) in Magok, Gangseo-gu, Seoul."