Casino operator Sands China Ltd is terminating a lease agreement with privately-held TaivexMalo Day Hospital that allowed the latter to operate a healthcare facility at casino resort Venetian Macao (pictured).
The decision came after operations at Taivexmalo Day Hospital were suspended for six months by Macau’s Health Bureau late last month. The bureau said at the time that the group running the healthcare facility was suspected of providing unauthorised medically assisted fertility and cancer treatment services.
In a statement to GGRAsia, Sands China said it was “very concerned by the recent investigation and subsequent decision by the Macau Health Bureau of suspension of the hospital licence of one of our mall tenants, Taivexmalo Day Hospital.”
The statement added: “Although we are unaware of any harm suffered by any patient at the facility, in the ongoing interests of our guests and our commitment to the highest standards, the company has taken all necessary steps upon learning of the licence suspension, including termination of the lease.”
Macau-based Portuguese-language newspaper Jornal Tribuna de Macau – which broke the story on Sands China’s decision to terminate the lease agreement with Taivexmalo Day Hospital – reported the clinic had been given 40 days to vacate the premises.
Taivexmalo Day Hospital occupied a total area of 9,000 square metres (96,875 sq feet) at the Venetian Macao, according to the latter’s website. It officially offered medical services in disciplines including dentistry, dermatology, gastroenterology, gynaecology, medical imaging, otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat medicine) and paediatrics.
The facility was inaugurated in 2010 as a unit of Portuguese dental health group Malo Clinic, which has establishments around the world. One of its aims was to develop Macau as a medical tourism destination.
With the project facing financial problems, Malo Clinic in 2013 sold a stake of 60 percent in the venture to Chinese group Shanghai Taivex Healthcare Management Co Ltd.
