Manarom Hospital, a private facility specialising in mental and behavioural health care, has projected 15% revenue growth this year on greater public awareness about the merits of its services.
A patient room at Manarom Hospital, which is expanding to meet growing demand for mental health services.
Last year, it posted a 15-million-baht net profit on a 12% increase in revenue to 160 million baht thanks to its ability to keep costs at existing levels. For 2014, Manarom forecasts its revenue will rise by 18%, according to managing director Kraisit Narukhatphichai.
"Our customer base has been growing, and we are adding more rooms to meet the demand," he said.
Dr Kraisit said a mental health therapy usually takes a long time to work on and incurs high costs.
The facility serves about 100 outpatients every day, 5% of whom are foreigners, mainly from neighbouring countries. It claims to charge less for medicines than many private hospitals do as it strives to strike a balance between patients' wellness and shareholders' expectations.
Patients coming for treatments at Manarom are primarily suffering from depression and drug abuse.
The hospital, which will celebrate its 7th anniversary on Oct 1, employs 120 staff including English-speaking employees.
Kraisit: Staff shortage a major problem
Dr Kraisit said it is still too early to predict how Manarom will be affected by the Asean Economic Community after it kicks off in 2016.
At present, it has received some applications from nurses in the Philippines seeking to work there, he said.
"Not everything can be implemented right away even though we have the money to do it. There is still a shortage of staff in the mental health area," he said, adding that there is still room to grow if there are enough staff.
As Thais still have the wrong attitude about psychological treatment, Manarom has come up with corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to create greater public awareness.
The CSR programme involves working with the Central Juvenile and Family Court to help treat troubled young people facing charges during detention and trial. It also helps to treat victims and gives advice to the courts on how to deal with troubled suspects and victims.
Dr Kraisit said the programme is aimed at giving the right information about the mental health issues of convicted youth and changing public attitudes about psychological therapy.
In the first phase of its CSR programme, the hospital is helping to educate and train court officials in several provinces on mental health to help them understand and know how to deal with troubled young suspects better, he said.