Biggest private clinic networks could reach 6,000 employees

The biggest private clinic networks in Romania could this year reach around 6,000 employees, 800 more than last year, according to data centralised by ZF.

The rise in the number of employees comes amid the investments announced in expansion and will also show in companies' turnovers. Thus, the 11 leading players have budgeted 160 million euros in turnover this year, 30% more than the around 123 million euros recorded in 2009, according to data centralised by ZF.

"There is pressure on people who have put some money aside and don't use it because of the economic context, to invest in this sector because it seems to be the only one on the rise. Every two or three weeks an acquaintance planning to invest one or two hundred thousand euros in a clinic comes to me for advice," says Sergiu Negut, deputy CEO of Centrul Medical Unirea (Unirea Medical Centre). He adds money can no longer be made in the same sectors as before, and that new niches need to be found.

So the question emerges whether the 30% rise expected by private clinics will be the last and whether a period of decline will follow.

For instance, businessman Florin Andronescu, who, together with wife Doris, is developing the Sanador clinic network, says private clinics can only growth through development and that it all depends on the strategy of each player.