IHH Healthcare Group CEO Dr Prem Kumar Nair named Executive of the Year - Healthcare

Dr Nair received an accolade for his people-centred leadership elevating patient care and enhancing workplace wellbeing.

Dr Prem Kumar Nair, Group CEO of IHH Healthcare, has been recognised at the Singapore Business Review Management Excellence Awards 2025 as Executive of the Year - Healthcare.

Since taking the helm on 1 October 2023, Dr Nair has strengthened IHH’s position as a leading multinational healthcare network by putting patients and employees at the centre of its growth.

At his inaugural Global Town Hall in January 2024, Dr Nair introduced the ACE (Align, Challenge, and Empower) framework to unite IHH’s 70,000 employees across 10 countries. ACE has since become a cornerstone of IHH’s group-wide transformation to shape the future of care in seven focus areas: clinical excellence, patient experience, new care models, operational excellence, payor and regulator engagement, employee and doctor value proposition, and technology, data, and AI.

Under Dr Nair’s leadership, IHH strengthened its oncology capabilities, opening Southeast Asia’s first private Proton Therapy Centre at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, Singapore. The SG$78m investment has positioned the group as a Centre of Excellence for oncology in Asia. 

In Malaysia, Dr Nair expanded IHH’s partnership with the Ministry of Health Malaysia to reduce cancer burden. Through their third memorandum of understanding, 1,500 patients are expected to benefit from life-saving radiotherapy treatment at 8 of IHH Malaysia’s hospitals. 

A strong advocate of workplace wellbeing, Dr Nair has introduced practical and visible initiatives to support employees. 

Before his role as Group CEO, he served as CEO of IHH Singapore since 2020, where he played a pivotal role in launching the first Johor Bahru-Singapore shuttle bus service to ferry our staff between Johor Bahru and our hospitals: Parkway East Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, and Gleneagles Hospital.

He also launched group-wide initiatives, training about 300 employee volunteers as Mental Health First Aiders to offer initial care and support to colleagues, deploying the Intellect App with self-guided learning modules to build resilience and regain motivation, launching a ‘Well-Being Moments’ Learning & Development space with resources for employees, and rolling out the ‘United We Care’ app in India to provide round-the-clock professional support with comprehensive tools and resources.

Dr Nair demonstrates how purpose-led leadership can create financial value. In the 2024 financial year, IHH recorded double-digit growth, with revenue increasing 16% and EBITDA rising 17% compared to 2023. The group added close to 1,000 beds across its network and continues to expand capacity to meet growing demand.

By combining advanced clinical capabilities with its aspiration to Care. For Good., IHH is catalysing next-level care and making quality healthcare more accessible to the communities it serves.

The Singapore Business Review Management Excellence Awards honours visionary executives, innovators, and high-performing teams, as well as initiatives that champion diversity, inclusion, employee engagement, and workplace wellbeing.

The Singapore Business Review Management Excellence Awards is presented by Singapore Business Review Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to know more about the awards programme, you may contact Julie Anne Nuñez-Difuntorum at (+65) 3158 1386 ext. 221 or [email protected].