KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 29): TMC Life Sciences Bhd said it has suspended the employment of Wan Nadiah Wan Mohd Abdullah Yaakob as its group chief executive officer (CEO), and as CEO of its subsidiary Thomson Hospitals Sdn Bhd.

The powers, authorities and functions vested in her as CEO are suspended with effect from Monday until further announcement by the board, the group said in a bourse filing, without disclosing any reason for the suspension.

"The board wishes to announce further that the company will continue its business as usual and during the period of suspension, one of our directors, Dr Heng Jun Li Melvin, will be appointed as the acting group CEO, who will temporarily assume the duties and functions of group CEO," the group added.

Heng, 41, is currently also the executive director and group CEO of Thomson Medical Group Ltd, Singapore.

Prior to that, he was the CEO of Gleneagles Hospital under IHH Healthcare Bhd, after holding several high ranking roles within the healthcare industry.

Heng holds a Masters of Business Administration from Frankfurt School of Finance & Management and a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from University of London, St Georges Hospital.

Wan Nadiah was appointed executive director of TMC in February 2019. Prior to that, she was the chief operating officer at Sunway Medical Centre after being promoted from director of its business development and corporate communications in October 2016.

In 2021, Wan Nadiah was the only Malaysian to be listed in Forbes Asia’s top 20 Power Businesswomen. She was recognised for her efforts as CEO of the flagship hospital where she introduced a Covid-19 task force at the hospital and launched a mobile app, providing remote end-to-end patient care from appointments, screening and assessments to rehab services and medication delivery.

She holds a Masters in Public Health (Nutrition) from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK and a degree in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard College, USA. She currently serves as vice president of the Harvard Club of Malaysia.

Shares of TMC closed one sen or 1.39% higher at 73 sen, for a market capitalisation of RM1.27 billion.