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A major demographic shift is creating tremendous challenges for society and demands on Hong Kong’s public healthcare system, but also opportunities for companies that can provide the services needed.
The elderly in Hong Kong will account for 26% of the total population in 2036, according to the Hong Kong 2030+ report. Already, many people in Hong Kong will be familiar with the frustration of trying to find appropriate care for their ageing relatives.
Jacky Kwan, Chairman of Bamboos Health Care Holdings Limited, discussed how his company is tackling this gap in the market at a Chamber Entrepreneur talk on 7 December.
Kwan set up Bamboos in 2009 to relieve the shortage of personnel in the industry, providing healthcare staffing solutions to individuals, hospitals, nursing homes and other medical organisations.
The company has now accumulated a database of more than 17,000 personnel, known as members. The majority are nurses and the rest are doctors, care givers, therapists and medical assistants.
In addition to providing staffing solutions, Bamboos also offers training and education courses for medical professionals, with a training centre of 20,000 square feet in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Bamboos coordinates more than 4,000 medical personnel every day, with around half of its business coming from hospitals and organizations. Kwan said with such a large number of staff on its books, managing member-client expectations was vital to the success of the business.
The company is careful to match the demands of its customers with its members’ experience, expertise and work-pattern preferences, to ensure the best fit and a happy working relationship for all concerned.
He added that the ongoing staff shortage in the sector means that Bamboos always welcomes new members to join the team.
Kwan noted that there are plenty of products targeted at the elderly, available both online and in physical stores. But when it comes to services, there are far fewer options. This shortage, in addition to the growth in the elderly population, means that it is a growing market with long-term prospects.
“The demand for elderly services is long-lasting and recurrent,” he said. People are living longer, but this means that they are more likely to need healthcare as they get older, “so there are foreseeable opportunities in the market.”
However, Kwan warned against associating healthcare for the elderly only with sickness.
“The majority of the elderly population is healthy,” he said, pointing out that the healthcare market serves many citizens who lead active lives.
He also noted that products and services do not have to be developed exclusively for older people.
“You should not run a business specifically for the elderly,” he said, “but instead transform your products or services to suit the ageing market and adopt a more user-friendly approach.”
He cited the example of installing bigger screens in ATMs. Bamboos also applies this strategy to the company’s lifestyle magazine – BamBoOs!Life – which is aimed at medical professionals and middle-class consumers. Kwan decided to produce a physical magazine despite the high production costs to appeal to the “young old” who still prefer reading printed materials.
The Chinese Mainland is also dealing with its own ageing population challenges, and opportunities exist there for companies like Bamboos. Kwan explained that the concept of professional care givers in not widely accepted among the general public and even medical personnel in the Mainland. In fact, Kwan added, service providers like Bamboos are still few and far between in Asia. However, he believes plenty of potential exists to expand.
“It is common for Hong Kong businesses to open elderly homes in Mainland China, but the market still has room to grow and seniors prefer staying at home in their old age,” Kwan said. Assuming a change in attitude occurs in the future, this could provide abundant opportunities for companies like Bamboos to provide care for older people at home as well as in hospitals and institutions.
While Bamboos’ services benefit Hong Kong society and provide peace of mind for its clients, Kwan pointed out that it is a profit-making business, not a social enterprise. The company was listed in Hong Kong on GEM in July 2014 and on the main board in March 2017.
The company targets affluent consumers, which Kwan believes differentiates his services from the other elderly care services in Hong Kong, such as government-run healthcare and foreign domestic helpers.
He is proud of Bamboos’ good reputation, and its mission to make its members and clients happy while providing a service that makes a vital contribution to society.