Affidea invests EUR 4 million in first foreign hospital in Serbia – Opening of diagnostic centers in Novi Sad, Nis, Kragujevac and Banjaluka to follow

The official opening of the Affidea neurology hospital, the first foreign investment in healthcare in Serbia, was marked on Thursday, February 23, 2017. The biggest pan-European operator of radiology services officially started operating in December 2016, and the first patients have therefore already been served. The diagnostic center at 25 Kneginje Zorke features the latest equipment made by General Electric. Around twenty healthcare workers are constantly engaged there, and the value of the investment has reached EUR 4 million. The Dutch company announces new investments and plans to open diagnostic centers in another three cities in Serbia.

– Affidea manages 220 health centers in 16 states of Europe, provides more than five million diagnostic services annually, and the investment in the diagnostic center in Belgrade shows that Serbia is a good country to invest in and is the beginning of the development of the Affidea system in this country – said Richard Smith, Chairman of the Board at Affidea.

The director of the hospital in Serbia, Marijan Bilic, says in his interview for our portal that the Belgrade diagnostic center features the latest medical technology.

– This is completely new equipment produced by General Electric, of the latest technological generation, which means that the patients will be provided with all types of MRI examinations, including those unavailable in Serbia until now. Furthermore, there's the 128-slice Computed Tomography scanner, the tomosynthesis mammogram, the latest digital X-ray device, a totality of ultrasound, cardiology and neurology diagnostic devices.

Bilic notes that local staff, fully trained to work on the latest medical devices, is employed at the Affidea center in Belgrade. Around twenty medical workers are constantly engaged, and the plan is to have 100 to 150 consultants.

– The integrated information system we've installed along with the equipment provides unlimited opportunities for exchanging knowledge and experience, as well as the possibility of medical consultation with experts from the Affidea system throughout Europe and the world. The goal is to continuously educate and train local experts and connect them to their colleagues in other 15 countries, of whom there are more than 4,000, and we will also try to secure the service for our patients in one of the European centers if it can't be provided here – our interviewee adds.

(Marijan Bilic, director of Affidea hospital in Belgrade) Around EUR 4 million has been invested in the Belgrade hospital so far, and the preparation for the opening of new diagnostic centers are in progress. A hospital in Banjaluka, modeled after the one in Belgrade, will open first, followed by diagnostic centers in Novi Sad, Nis and Kragujevac.

– The hospital in Banjaluka is to be completed this October. We have been given the green light, the location is ready, and the idea is for the center in this city to be connected to the one in Belgrade through telemedicine and teleradiology. Furthermore, I hope that the diagnostic center in Novi Sad will open by the end of this calendar year, followed by Nis in 2018 and Kragujevac in 2019.

In many of the states it operates in, Affidea is the main healthcare service operator in the field of insured radiology diagnostics and radiotherapy in line with the public-private partnership model. This is not yet the case in Serbia, as there is no contract with the National Health Insurance Fund, so the patients are paying for the services themselves.

Bilic is, however, convinced that the state will recognize them as a partner.

– It's only a matter of time – our interviewee points out.

– It doesn't matter to the patient whether the magnetic resonance device has been bought by the state or a private company, as long as they are being provided with quality service. We are at the disposal to public healthcare as well, as this technology can act as a good reserve – the prices are affordable compared to the European standard, and the costs are not much different from what the NHIF is already paying for such services.

Aside from Serbia, Affidea operates in Switzerland, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Spain. As they pointed out, they have 150 modern MRI devices, over 110 CT scanners, 22 latest radiation therapy devices, 3 gamma-knife devices, 20 PET/CT scanners and around 1,000 other diagnostic devices (RTG, ultrasound devices, mammograms...).

The official opening of the Affidea center in Serbia was attended by State Secretary of the Ministry of Health Dr Meho Mahmutovic, Provincial Secretary for Healthcare Dr Zoran Gojkovic, representatives of the embassies of Holland and the USA, local self-governments, Minister of Health at the Government of Republika Srpska Dr Dragan Bogdanic with associates, numerous medical doctors, representatives of patient and media associations, and the memorandum on cooperation with the National Organization for Rare Diseases of Serbia was signed on the occasion.

Ivana Bezarevic

Affidea d.o.o. Beograd

General Electric International Beograd

Pokrajinski sekretarijat za zdravstvo Novi Sad

Ambasada Kraljevine Holandije Beograd

Ambasada SAD Beograd

Ministarstvo zdravlja Republike Srbije

NORBS Nacionalna organizacija za retke bolesti Srbije

Affidea

Affidea Belgrade

Affidea neurology hospital

Affidea diagnostic center

General Electric

Richard Smith

Marijan Bilic

magnetic resonance

128 slice Computed Tomography scanner

tomosynthesis mammogram

digital X ray device

ultrasound diagnostics

cardiology diagnostics

neurology diagnostics

Ministary of Health

Meho Mahmutovic

Zoran Gojkovic

Embassy of Holland in Belgrade

US Embassy in Belgrade

Ministry of Health of Republika Srpska

Dragan Bogdanic

National Organization for Rare Diseases of Serbia

private healthcare in Serbia

cooperation between public and private healthcare

telemedicine

teleradiology

radiology

radiology diagnostics

radiation therapy