PDA

View Full Version : Foreign Investors Snap up Finnish Health Firms



The Ripper
01-17-2011, 05:34 AM
Foreign investment firms are increasing their share of Finland’s health sector. Finland’s leading private healthcare provider Terveystalo, which is owned by a British investment company, has just acquired Oulu's Deaconess Institute's health services.

“Private healthcare providers have just 20 percent of the Finnish healthcare market. Now we can also offer services in northern Finland,” says Terveystalo Managing Director Yrjö Närhinen.

Foreign investors see Finland as a lucrative opportunity, as chronic medical conditions increase among an ageing population.

Finland’s Social Insurance Institution KELA also helps to ensure companies make a profit, as the institution supports healthcare provision by paying a portion of doctor’s fees and healthcare costs.

“The current funding arrangements are leading to a situation where the system becomes polarised and we could be on the way to an American model,” argues Antti Kivela, head of the Finnish Innovation Fund.

Private companies currently provide about one fifth of all health care in Finland.

YLE



http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/01/foreign_investors_snap_up_finnish_health_firms_229 1918.html