Sunway TCM eyes RM200,000 monthly revenue to achieve operating break-even

SUBANG JAYA (Jan 9): Sunway Traditional and Complementary Medicine Centre (Sunway TCM), a unit of Sunway Group Healthcare Services, is expected to generate about RM200,000 a month in revenue this year on the back of growing demand for its services.

Head consultant Dr Lim Ren Jye said the centre, which incorporates T&CM into Western healthcare, started operations in September 2019 and has received good response from patients.

“For the past months the centre achieved revenue of about RM90,000 to RM100,000 monthly. This year we are expecting to achieve operational break-even, and to do that with seven staff, we are targeting to generate RM200,000 in revenue per month,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of the Sunway TCM official launch here today.

The centre was launched by Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye and founder and chairman of Sunway Group, Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah.

Dr Lee said there is a high demand for T&CM services, citing a survey that found one-third of the urban population in Malaysia had sought some sort of T&CM services within the past year.

“For the meantime, most of the customers for Sunway TCM are Chinese, but in public sector hospitals, we have seen huge demand coming mostly from the Malays,” he said.

He said moving forward, once the mothership of the centre is established with good protocols and standard operating procedures, the group would be looking for opportunities, to recruit and train quality practitioners, and open new branches.

On expansion, he said the group plans to have a medical centre as well as a TCM in every one of its townships.

“We are trying to establish our network now in the Klang Valley. Once it is done, we also want to expand from primary care to tertiary care. That is our long-term plan, “ he said.

Dr Lim said that the centre is differentiated from its competitors as it integrates traditional practices into modern medicine, noting that it is not an easy task as both use different approaches.

“At Sunway TCM Centre, we have the advantage of having a team of professionals qualified in both fields. This has allowed them to understand the benefits of what both fields could offer, hence the ability to provide the best possible options and treatment management for our patients,” he added.

In his opening speech, Cheah said the T&CM industry is estimated to be worth about US$60 billion a year and is growing at 11 percent annually.

“Our ancestors clearly knew more about natural healing than had been acknowledged by the West. For too long, modern medicine had dismissed many of these traditional methods as being mere folk tales rooted in ignorance.

“It was only in recent times that science itself has begun to verify that these natural remedies are actually effective,” he said.

He added that to date, 170 out of 194 member states of the World Health Organisation have accorded official recognition to T&CM, with a number of them having even developed laws, policies and programmes in this sector.