THE Economic Planning Unit (EPU) has not agreed or approved any privatisation plan for the National Heart Institute (IJN), says Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department overseeing
the EPU.He told Malay Mail that "IJN will never be privatised" and that he was "always against it (privatising IJN)".
He also refuted claims that IJN's medical director, Datuk Seri Robaayah Zambahari, will be presenting the proposed restructuring plan to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Tuesday.
There were also claims that Robaayah was expected to be appointed the IJN Hospital chief executive officer on a one-year contract.
"Whatever the allegations, they are all wrong. I have always been against the privatisation of IJN," he said.
"The allegations are making it look like I'm the one pushing for its privatisation," added Nor Mohamed, who was also alleged to have consented to IJN's Widespread Asset Unbundling (WAU) scheme.
The WAU concept was originally introduced by Nor Mohamed when he was Finance Minister II for the restructuring exercise of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and the inception of Penerbangan Malaysian Bhd as the special purpose vehicle to undertake the holding and ownership of all MAS assets, especially aircraft.
"EPU will never give any approval for any proposal to privatise IJN and there is not going to be any proposal from IJN to the prime minister on the matter," he said.
Yesterday, Malay Mail front-paged a report on an alleged fresh attempt to privatise the 17-year-old medical institution.
The IJN board of directors allegedly had obtained the consent of the EPU to conduct a WAU scheme, geared towards separating IJN's operational functions and creating new subsidiaries, claimed to include entities such as IJN Services (a joint-venture company for hospital support services), IJN Assets (to manage and maintain the upkeep of the buildings and equipment) and IJN Pharmacy, which would handle pharmaceuticals.
As a corporate entity, IJN currently operates in the form of IJN Holdings Sdn Bhd, which wholly owns IJN Hospital; IJN Capital, which is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to issue syariah compliant commercial papers such as Sukuk; IJN College which trains heart care professionals, paid for by IJN Hospital; and IJN International which spearheads its overseas operations.
It was speculated that if the changes took effect, it could eventually pave the way for an initial public offering (IPO) on the stock market, as IJN's track record of 41,000 successful coronary artery bypass surgeries is exemplary for a private hospital.
The role of IJN's physicians, anaesthetists, surgeons, paediatricians and cardiologists would be limited solely to IJN Hospital, which would be deemed merely an operator within the group.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Rosnah Rashid Shirlin had said although it was speculative, her ministry would not take kindly to such a move.
"We will not let that happen. IJN will always have to play a role to serve the public," she said.
Via Malay Mail
IJN should remains to serve the public!
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