Plan for KL Wellness City in Malaysia

Plans have been announced to build KL Wellness City (KLWC) a wellness healthcare and fitness destination in Kuala Lumpur aimed at both local and international medical travellers.

KLWC seeks to be a place with holistic facilities and services that encompass healthcare, wellness and fitness, involving both Western and alternative medicines. The plan is to put these services in a healthcare mall, where all types of healthcare can be found together.

KLWC has a hospital as its centrepiece. There will be medical suites and accommodation for healthcare travellers called wellness suites, as well as retirement homes, assisted living units and multigenerational units.

KLWC is a 26.5-acre healthcare-themed development in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur. The components will include a 624-bed tertiary hospital (with capacity of up to 1,000 beds), 379 medical specialist suites, a retirement resort for independent living, a retirement resort for assisted living, a healthcare mall, residential units, commercial shops offering health and fitness-centric retail as well as food and beverage outlets, office space and a central park with cycling and jogging track.

The long-term project will be fully complete by 2032. The first phase, which was started in 2021, will consist of the hospital and The Nobel Healthcare Park, which will be connected via link bridges. The Nobel Healthcare Park will comprise 379 medical suites in two blocks, 512 wellness suites in one block, office space and retail shops on the ground floor of these blocks.

Th project will offer an opportunity for doctors to have their own medical suites and business without the control of a hospital. KLWC claims many specialists want the Singapore system, which is where specialists have their own clinic where they can prescribe their medicine, charge the fee they want, do small procedures and do lab tests. They can also undertake corporate planning, and engage junior doctors as they get established.  The Malaysian system differs in that specialists generally work in a hospital, where they rent a consultation suite and everything is controlled by the hospital.

The only medical suites available now are those next to Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur. Pantai Hospital used to have them but the hospital is slowly buying back the suites.

The aim is to position the KLWC hospital as one of the leading hospitals in South East Asia, benchmarked against the top hospitals in Singapore and Bangkok. Phase one, together with the central park, will be completed by end-2024. The 12-storey hospital will be ready by 2Q 2025 because of the time to get MoH compliance approvals and licences.