1.0 Bright<br /> Health Group Background
Bright health Group currently holds 40% stake in Bright Pharmacies, a retail pharmacy chain that started trading in 2004 as Long-Range Pharmacy. Currently, the Bright Pharmacies retail chain comprises six retail pharmacies located in and around Harare, as well as Kadoma, Chivhu and Bindura. Bright Distribution and Bright Pharmaceuticals are backward integration projects. Bright Distribution is a pharmaceutical wholesaling arm of the group, with a full range of pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and disposables, serving the group as well as other non-group customers. Bright Pharmaceuticals, which currently does some form of tertiary manufacturing through bulk imports and re-packaging of pharmaceutical galenical products, will be transformed into a manufacturing plant for galenicals compounding and secondary manufacturing of various pharmaceutical dosage forms.
1.1 Bright<br /> Health Group Background
In 2004, when the company was established, the environment provided opportunities for new pharmacies in prime and niche areas where outlets were closing as pharmacists migrated to the diaspora. The company took up the premises and expanded to 10 retail pharmacies, a pharmaceutical warehouse for special imports and galenicals compounding/manufacturing. Funding for operations was purely from internal cash flow generation but with the deteriorating economic front, the company’s capital base has since deteriorated resulting in the need for an external injection of funds to support the group’s strategy.
2.0 Medical Centre Concept
Medical Centres provide total support for patients, including a wide array of medical, dental, laboratory and pharmaceutical services. From general medicine to specialized outpatient clinics, examination and pharmaceutical support, all disciplines are connected and work together to provide comprehensive healthcare services to each and every patient. Having recognized the need for comprehensive healthcare services, the group came up with a concept of establishing such medical centres incorporating Bright Pharmacies within the same complex. Such facilities offer patients a one-stop service provision thus building synergies for providers. The group’s first medical centre was built in 2006 in Kadoma. This part of the country is home to vast mining activities in the form of gold operations ranging from small scale to large scale mining.
2.2 Medical<br /> Centre Concept
Such activities are associated with a high level of accidents requiring state of the art medical rescue and emergency services. Lack of such facilities presented the group with an opportunity to embark on the medical centre project. Funding challenges have resulted in the slowdown of project implementation and especially in equipping the centre. At the present moment, licensing of the Kadoma medical centre with the Health Professions Authority and the Nurses Council is under way. The idea is to utilize the centre as a nursing services facility whilst funding for a fully-fledged medical centre is sourced.
A new medical centre in Chivhu is under construction. The Harare-Beitbridge corridor is a busy one, carrying business traffic from South Africa to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia. The high intensity of accidents occurring on this highway fall short of a good standard of medical emergency services and hence offer an opportunity for providing such services. The Chivhu medical centre has been faced with funding challenges and the project is currently at foundation level.
Going forward, the group will solicit new ideas on the concept from partners in order to maximize on stakeholder experiences and contributions.
(SWOT) Analysis
The formal analysis of the business of Bright Health Group, industry and market analysis, and the economic overview of the country, gives rise to the following company strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats presented by the external environment.
STRENGTHS
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Entrenched retail pharmacy brand
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Entrepreneurial and hands on founder
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Franchises in IT and beauty care products
Weaknesses
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Inadequate financial resources.
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Poor corporate governance structures.
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Inadequate systems
OPPORTUNITIES
- Potential growth in PIM and consumer health care products for the retail pharmacy industry
- Fragmented retail pharmacy industry
- Redefine retail pharmacy practice through innovative programs
Threats
- Ownership requirements limits growth opportunities.
- High competitive rivalry.
- High-supplier and buyer power.
- Unfair competition from medical aid owned pharmacies.
- Fragile economy with massive unemployment and liquidity challenges
