Private hospitals urged to tap capital markets for funding

December 30, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is encouraging more private hospitals to tap the capital market for their expansion needs.

“The financing needs of the health care sector continue to grow, whether in expanding capacity, upgrading facilities, adopting new technologies, or improving service delivery,” SEC chairperson Francis Lim said.

Lim said that while the public sector continues to lead significant investments in infrastructure and service delivery, the private sector plays an equally important role, especially in areas of health care where there is a strong business case for expansion.

“Public and private investments must complement each other to ensure that Filipinos across the country gain access to safe, modern and adequate health facilities,” he said.

The commission, through its Securing and Expanding Capital for Hospital Entrepreneurs (SEC HOPES) program, supports the government’s push to provide more quality and accessible health care to Filipinos.

Issued through Memorandum Circular 11, Series of 2017, SEC HOPES provides hospitals with easy access to the capital market by streamlining the registration process for the securities they plan to offer to fund the construction of health care facilities.

Under the policy, the commission has shortened the review period for the registration of securities by hospitals to 28 days, from the standard of 45 days, through a simplified registration statement.

As of December 2025, a total of 18 private hospitals have registered under SEC HOPES, with a total registered shares value of P19.95 billion and a total issue value of P17.05 billion.

With hospitals gaining better access to capital, the SEC aims to address the acute shortage of hospitals in the country.

The commission said that the hospital bed-to-population ratio currently stands at 0.5 beds per 1,000 population, which should be raised to 2.7 beds per 1,000 population to meet the country’s rising health care demands, based on the Department of Health’s Philippine Health Facility Development Plan 2020–2040.

“This is precisely why capital markets must remain open and accessible to all sectors and industries – including health care,” Lim said.