Philips nabs latest 'smart hospital' deal for $225M in Ontario

Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital--Courtesy of Philips

Royal Philips ($PHG) has explicitly made massive, multiyear hospital contracts part of its strategy as it works to define its leadership in HealthTech, the core of its corporate vision that's tied to its healthcare and consumer products. Now it's weighed in with a massive commitment on that front, a CA$300 million ($225 million) deal to provide an existing as well as a new hospital in Ontario with medical technology procurement, management and maintenance over the next 18 years.

Under the deal, Philips will offer systems interoperability, diagnostic imaging equipment utilization, radiology practice management, patient-centric design, and alarm management offerings to the existing Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital and the future Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital, which is slated to be completed in 2019.

"To bring our 'smart hospital' vision to life, we are partnering with industry leaders like Philips who are at the forefront of innovation," Altaf Stationwala, president and CEO of Mackenzie Health, said in a statement. "We chose Philips not only for their products, but also for their expertise and solutions."

As part of the deal, the hospitals and Philips will work to incorporate all manner of connected health technologies, as well as explore how to elicit patient data that can be used to improve clinical outcomes and reduce costs.

The deal is said to be the largest of its kind in Canada and will ultimately cover an estimated half-million patients, but it's only one of several existing hospital partnerships that Philips has been parading in recent months.

On its latest earnings call, Philips highlighted similar expansive, multiyear deals with King's Daughters Medical Center in Kentucky and the Dutch Catharina Hospital's cardiovascular center. It's also done comparable partnerships with the Westchester Medical Center Health Network in New York's Hudson Valley and Georgia Regents Medical Center in Augusta, GA.

"Forward-thinking organizations such as Mackenzie Health understand that in order to transform healthcare and deliver the type of care their communities need and deserve, they need public-private partnerships with industry-leaders like Philips that have a proven track record of industry expertise and innovation," said Iain Burns, CEO of Philips Canada.

- here is the partnership announcement