Six UK hospitals receive over £6m to fund new medical equipment.
20th February 2015: GE Capital today announced that it has provided a £6m structured leasing facility to BMI Healthcare (BMI), the UK’s largest private acute hospital operator.
BMI Healthcare provides treatment to NHS, privately insured and self-pay patients in 58 locations across the UK. The funding has been used in full to bring the latest MRI and CT diagnostic imaging technology to six of its flagship hospitals and improve diagnostic services for thousands of patients.
The hospitals in receipt of new equipment are: The Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle (Cheshire), The Chiltern Hospital in Great Missenden (Buckinghamshire), Bath Clinic (Somerset), Ross Hall Hospital in Glasgow, Thornbury Hospital in Sheffield (South Yorkshire), and The Highfield Hospital in Rochdale (Lancashire). Over half of the equipment has been ordered from GE Capital’s sister company GE Healthcare.
GE Capital’s dedicated healthcare team provides equipment financing solutions adapted to the individual needs of each customer and has been supporting the UK healthcare sector for over 20 years.
Jeremy Knight, Head of Healthcare Finance at GE Capital UK, said: “BMI’s decision to fund its new equipment through leasing is reflective of a wider market trend we are seeing away from outright purchase. The need to improve productivity and efficiency are the key drivers in these types of investment decisions but finding a way to replace expensive deteriorating equipment in the most cost-effective way can be a headache.
“Structured leasing not only offers immediate savings and a boost in productivity but it also lowers maintenance costs and allows more frequent upgrades of equipment to maximise operational performance over time.”
Craig Lovelace, CFO at BMI Healthcare, said: “We have been impressed with GE Capital’s knowledge of the healthcare industry as well as their finance expertise and commitment to meeting our specific needs. Alongside the reconfiguration of some of the older parts of our hospital estate, this new funding package allows us the flexibility to complete essential equipment upgrades, improve productivity and thus ultimately enhance the care we provide to our patients which is our primary goal as expressed in our brand slogan: ‘Serious about health, passionate about care’.”
Original source: ge news
Date: 24/02/2015