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MedicalUniversity of Vienna goes international:
Hospital “PrinceCourtMedicalCenter” in Kuala Lumpur

In cooperation with its partner Vamed, the MedicalUniversity of Vienna operates the “PrinceCourtMedicalCenter”, a private hospital with 300 beds, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This project is financed by the local investor Petronas.

Following a phase of negotiations that lasted close to 9 months, the Medical University of Vienna in cooperation with Vamed was awarded the contract to operate a “high-end quality” hospital in Kuala Lumpur. Petronas, Malaysia’s national petroleum corporation, also known for such major construction projects as the Formula-1 Ring and the PetronasTowers, will finance the project. This corporation is one of the most important economic players in South-East Asia.

The contract was signed for a period of several years, including an option for renewal. The Medical University of Vienna will supply the Chief Medical Officer in a 3-man leadership team, who will be responsible for first setting up and then operating the entire medical sector including the nursing sector. Vamed will delegate the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Corporate Officer. The combination of outstanding management and operation, top-class medicine, cutting-edge medical technology and information technology guarantees the Prince Court Medical Center (PCMC) project excellent chances of success.

Official opening in the 2nd half of 2006

The PrinceCourtMedicalCenter is located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur and is another showpiece project funded by Petronas, Malaysia’s national petroleum corporation. It will be one of the largest private hospitals in the KlangValley and the surrounding area. Each of the 330 beds has a 300-m² share of the overall floor space, which – compared with international standards – reflects a very high level of quality. International benchmarks allow for an average of 130 to 150 m². The 330 rooms are either single rooms or suites. In addition to highest-quality medical care, future patients will also be able to take advantage of the atmosphere and service of a 5-star hotel.

The medical spectrum at PCMC will cover all the special medical fields, with bundled expertise offered in 5 “Centers of Excellence” (CoEs):

  • - Heart and Vascular Center
  • - Oncological Center
  • - Mother and ChildCenter
  • - Center for Cosmetic Surgery, Dermatology and Burn Victims
  • - Center for Urology, Nephrology and Men’s Health

This structure is reflected in both in-patient as well as out-patient care.

Prof. Dr. Christian Herold, University Clinic for Radiology, took a look at the hospital’s highest-quality technical equipment directly on location. “This hospital easily matches the standards of modern technology you find in any high-end North American or European hospital, such as the AKH (OldGeneralHospital).”

The MedicalUniversity of Vienna (MUV) and its tasks

The Chief Chief Medical Officer (CMO) appointed by the MUV is in charge of developing the concept for all the medical services, including setting up the 5 Centers of Excellence and training the medical staff. The key managers and staff for the areas of medicine, nursing and allied health services, such as laboratory and radiology staff, were hired in the autumn of 2005.

Together, the consortium is responsible for monitoring the completion of the building, for all the fittings, furnishings and equipment and for the medical technology. Depending on how the CoEs are set up, staff requirements are first estimated at approx. 550 employees; once the project approaches completion, that figure is expected to increase to approx. 750 staff members. The staff will consist primarily of local health care professionals. The MUV will provide its assistance and expertise in selecting only the best candidates for these positions.

In addition, the MUV will also make specialists available from the fields of telemedicine and quality management as well as senior medical specialists from the clinical sector. These experts will be called in short-term or part-time, as needed. Corporate administrative support will also be provided, if required. Thanks to this extensive, close cooperation with the specialists from Vienna, the know-how and medical expertise of the Medical University of Vienna – an important part of the contract – will be transferred to the local staff.

“We expect this collaboration to be a perfect match,” says Hans-Georg Eichler, Vice-rector for Research and International Relations at the MUV, about the project. “On the one hand, there is a quality-conscious investor with a clear vision for the medical location in Kuala Lumpur. And on the other hand, we have a consortium of 2 partners, the MUV and Vamed, whose different areas of expertise complement one another perfectly.”

Economic Efficiency / Marketing

In addition to such academic goals as teaching and training the Malaysian and Austrian health professionals, the MedicalUniversity of Vienna is also actively pursuing economic and financial targets with this project. Besides the added prestige of such a project, this also requires positive operating profits. According to Elisabeth Chalupa-Gartner, Vice-rector for Finances at the MUV, one prerequisite for the project was that no financial resources of any kind would be taken from the global budget or any other revenues of the Meduni Vienna at any time. “The Medical University of Vienna is paving a way into new markets with this showpiece project,” says Chalupa-Gartner. “Following the move towards greater autonomy when the UG2002 came into force, universities were required to find additional sources of revenue.”

As a modern university, the MUV has taken advantage of this opportunity proactively and has now become a global player in the health care industry. As a result of intensive marketing activities, including advertising campaigns and sales offices planned on a national and international scale, this branding will attract a great deal of attention to the Medical University of Vienna in the entire South-East Asian market. This project is the first of its kind in which a medical university in Austria enters into international collaboration in the field of hospital management.

More information on the Medical University of Vienna at

For further questions please contact:

Nina Hoppe
Head of Department of Public Relations Sponsoring
Phone: +43-(0)1/ 40 160 11 501
E-Mail:
Spitalgasse 23, 1090 Vienna, Austria

MedicalUniversity of Vienna in brief

The Medical University of Vienna is one of the largest research institutions in Europe with more than 5,000 staff members including 2,800 academic staff and physicians. Founded 1365 as a faculty of the University of Vienna, the Medical University of Vienna is autonomous since 1 January 2004. Utilizing 40,000m² of research space and operating 33 clinics and 11 institutes the Medical University of Vienna achieved numerous breakthroughs in medical research with state-of-the-art equipment. Building on its research programs, educational facilities and curricula, the primary mission of the MedicalUniversityis to serve research and education in its broadest sense.

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