GEORGE TOWN: Island Hospital today refuted claims that it released a sales brochure on the divestment of interest in a hotel project to be built alongside its hospital expansion project at Lebuhraya Peel here.
The refutation was in response to a Penang Gerakan leader’s allegation that up to 95 per cent of the hotel component is being offered to interested parties.
In a statement issued today, the hospital said the hotel, which will be built on the private land, was an important part of the hospital expansion project to help promote medical tourism.
"As a leading medical tourism hospital in the state and country, Island Hospital has made a commitment to Penang and the Ministry of Health to continue pushing the boundaries even further to promote medical tourism through its interstate Island Medical City.
"We refute claims of having released a sales brochure concerning divestment of the said hotel," it said.
Penang Gerakan acting Youth chief Jason Loo had alleged that he came across a sales brochure by Island Hospital recently which invited investors to purchase shares of the hotel, to be built on the land at Lebuhraya Peel.
He also claimed that Island Hospital would only hold five per cent of the hotel's shares, while the remaining 95 per cent would be owned by an investor once the deal was completed.
On May 17, Loo revealed that the state government had sold a 6.4-acre land at Lebuhraya Peel to Island Hospital Sdn Bhd for RM156 million.
A proposed RM2 billion Island Medical City will be built on the land over a five-year span.
The medical city will include an initial 600-bed hospital, which will increase in capacity to 1,000 beds in future.