This story appeared in our October 2025 issue, featuring our annual Healthcare Leaders ranking.
Across much of the world, universal health coverage remains an aspiration rather than a reality. In Saudi Arabia, however, coverage has reached all citizens and 95.9 percent of the total population by 2024, reflecting the kingdom’s Vision 2030 drive to expand access and quality. Riding this transformation, SMC Healthcare has positioned itself as a key player in the sector’s next growth phase, culminating in a successful 500 million dollar IPO in June 2025.
“The IPO was a lifetime achievement,” says Bassam Chahine, CEO of SMC Healthcare. “In less than a year, we prepared, secured approvals, and listed on the Saudi Exchange. It reshaped our culture, strengthened governance, enhanced disclosure, and became one of the most defining moments in SMC’s history.”
The public listing ranked as the third largest on the Saudi Exchange main market in 2025 as of September, following flynas at 1.1 billion dollars in June and Umm Al Qura for Development and Construction at 523.1 million dollars in March. In total, the main market recorded nine IPOs valued at 3.3 billion dollars in the first nine months of the year, underscoring the momentum of Saudi Arabia’s capital markets.
Founded in 1999, SMC Healthcare has steadily expanded its footprint and now operates two hospitals in Riyadh with a combined capacity of 578 beds and more than 300 clinics. The group delivers primary, secondary, and tertiary care while focusing growth in Riyadh, where underserved communities and expected supply gaps align with government initiatives to promote privatization and private investment. This strategy mirrors Saudi Arabia’s healthcare agenda, which targets increasing private sector participation from 25 percent to 35 percent by 2030 through privatizations, public private partnerships, and investor incentives.
According to BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, these reforms are set to reshape the healthcare landscape. Over the next five years, Vision 2030 is expected to expand public private partnerships and accelerate digital health adoption as Saudi Arabia seeks to increase capacity, improve efficiency, and shift toward preventive and value based care. Investment activity is forecast to remain strong across hospital expansion, specialized outpatient care, and diagnostic infrastructure. Over the 2024 to 2029 period, health expenditure is projected to rise from 58.3 billion dollars to 81 billion dollars, reflecting a five year compound annual growth rate of 6.7 percent.
Rising healthcare spending is also fueling growth in pharmaceuticals, a critical pillar of the ecosystem. Saudi Arabia remains the largest pharmaceutical market in the MENA region, expected to grow from 12.9 billion dollars in 2024 to 13.5 billion dollars in 2025. Government initiatives such as Vision 2030 and the National Biotech Strategy, along with improving regulatory frameworks, continue to support the sector. Across the wider region, the pharmaceutical market is valued at 54.3 billion dollars in 2024 and is forecast to reach 57.2 billion dollars in 2025, representing year on year growth of 5.3 percent.
Against this backdrop of rising demand and investment, providers such as SMC are refining their operating models. Balancing affordability with high quality care remains a sector wide challenge, and SMC’s approach centers on efficiency and scale. While patients perceive SMC as a premium healthcare provider, the company actively works to broaden access through insurance partnerships and value based care, according to Chahine.
Trust remains the cornerstone of SMC’s competitive advantage. Its position in Saudi Arabia’s evolving healthcare market is built not only on scale but on long standing relationships. “Healthcare is not about volumes and buildings. It is about building trust,” Chahine explains. “The reputation we have built in Riyadh for quality and consistency over 25 years cannot be easily replicated. Trust takes time.”
The breadth of SMC’s services further differentiates the group. While many providers focus either on basic care or advanced procedures, SMC integrates both within a single system. As of September 15, 2025, a total of 17 healthcare, pharmaceutical, and medical equipment companies were listed on Saudi Arabia’s main market with a combined value of 51.2 billion dollars. Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Services Group led the sector at 22.4 billion dollars, while SMC Healthcare was valued at 1.2 billion dollars.
As competition in Riyadh intensifies, SMC believes the future belongs to structured healthcare systems rather than standalone providers. Since 2021, the company has reported consistent revenue growth, a trend expected to continue through 2025. In the first half of 2025, revenues rose 4.1 percent year on year to 199.7 million dollars. Net profit declined 34.1 percent to 17.6 million dollars due to costs associated with exiting long term care, pre opening expenses for new clinics, and one off IPO and rebranding charges. Chahine maintains that profitability will remain solid through 2025, supported by a conservative balance sheet strategy that balances investment with dividends.
SMC is navigating its early months as a public company after raising 500 million dollars by selling a 30 percent stake that was oversubscribed 64.7 times. Since listing, the stock has declined 25.3 percent to 4.8 dollars as of September 15, 2025, amid a broader market downturn. Over the same period, the TASI index fell 5 percent and declined 13.4 percent since the end of 2024 to 10,427.1 points, a trajectory Chahine says does not reflect the company’s operational performance.
Saudi Arabia’s healthcare market continues to demonstrate resilience. Providers in the kingdom are achieving EBITDA margins above 20 percent and strong market valuations, supported by a transformation agenda focused on value based, patient centric care, specialized centers, and medical tourism that is reversing the historic outflow of patients seeking treatment abroad.
Public private partnerships are playing a central role in this expansion. These partnerships take multiple forms, including service contracts, long term concessions, and integrated network arrangements, each designed to address gaps across hospitals, diagnostics, long term care, and specialized services. Chahine emphasizes that SMC’s fundamentals remain strong, with expansion anchored in service diversification, digital transformation, and greater tertiary care offerings. Outpatient visits are expected to increase from 1.3 million in 2024 to 1.5 million in 2025, alongside rising demand for advanced procedures such as kidney and cornea transplants and cardiac surgeries.
With volume growth, increasing case complexity, and service expansion reinforcing one another, SMC is positioning itself to meet patient needs while delivering shareholder value. In March 2025, the company integrated artificial intelligence into patient services, now serving 3,500 daily users with five million interactions. Its digital platform, launched in 2019, serves 1.5 million outpatients annually, added 75,000 new users in 2024, and continues to evolve through monthly upgrades. AI also supports radiology and insurance approvals, keeping digital adoption central to operations and care delivery.
Since assuming the CEO role in October 2024, Chahine has focused on empowering leaders, fostering open communication, embedding innovation in care and technology, and strengthening governance and disclosure as SMC transitions into life as a listed entity. Previously, he served as vice president and chief operating officer from August 2000 to September 2024.
A Lebanese national, Chahine earned a master’s degree in public health and health services administration from the American University of Beirut in 1995. He began his career as chief operating officer of SPL Hospital from 1995 to 1997 before serving as chief executive officer of Hiram Hospital from 1997 to 1999. Having studied and worked during Lebanon’s civil war, he gained early experience managing hospitals under crisis conditions. “I am a product of war. I learned through resilience, emergency response, and gaining deep experience in a short period of time,” he says.
In the late 1990s, brothers and founders Abdul Rahman, Abdullah, and Rashid Bin Saad Al Rashid set out to establish a world class hospital in Riyadh capable of delivering global quality healthcare. Drawn by Chahine’s reputation, they approached him in Lebanon, and in 2000 he relocated to Saudi Arabia to help launch SMC’s operations. As part of the founding management team, he has spent more than 25 years shaping the company’s trajectory.
Looking ahead, SMC’s growth strategy is centered on Northern Riyadh. The company is investing 853 million dollars in three new hospitals, with no immediate plans for regional expansion. The first, SMC 3, is a flagship tertiary facility on North Ring Road featuring a trauma center and rooftop helipad, currently under construction and scheduled for completion in 2027. A second facility, SMC 4, is planned for the northeast, while a third, SMC 5, in Malga near the New Murabba development, is expected before 2030. Financed through a mix of internal cash flow and bank funding, these projects will more than double capacity, increasing bed count from 578 to 1,275 and outpatient clinics from 300 to 770.
Chahine says the expansion reflects the same philosophy that has guided SMC for 25 years, centered on patient focused innovation and disciplined execution. “I am proud of this journey,” he says. “We have built operational excellence, a trusted reputation in Riyadh, and a loyal patient base. We will continue investing in digital solutions and artificial intelligence to remain at the forefront of care, aligned with Saudi Arabia’s vision for a healthier and more innovative future.”
