Private clinics start to feel pinch of crisis

“Medical clinic, central area, for sale” or “fully equipped medical clinic for sale”! Such ads are increasingly more to be found on specialised websites. A rarity up until a few months ago, such ads are the first sign that the private medical market is starting to feel the effects of the crisis. Small and medium-sized clinics are the most affected, with the main problems being liquidity-related. The wave of expected takeovers will result in consolidations in an industry expected to be worth around 430 million euros this year. On the other hand, while small players are feeling the pinch, large private medical services providers continue to report up to 70% business rises, whilst sums collected from clients have not gone down. Investment plans are going ahead, with the largest operators planning investments of over 80 million euros in new facilities over the next three years. “We are undergoing a recession which we hadn’t anticipated, and which is upsetting plans of many investors in all economic sectors. Both at national level and in Bucharest, there are service providers who have liquidity problems, sometimes very serious ones,” says Sergiu Negut, executive manager of Unirea Medical Center (CMU), which posted an 11.2 million-euro turnover last year.