AGEL Group CEO Michal Pišoja
In 2026, the AGEL Group will host the prestigious European Private Hospital Awards, organized by UEHP. On this occasion, we spoke with AGEL Group CEO Michal Pišoja about the significance of this event and the role of private healthcare in Europe.
The AGEL group is organizing the 5th edition of the European Private Hospital Awards on 10 November 2026 in Prague. What do you expect from this event?
The European Private Hospital Awards are seen as a unique opportunity to present quality, innovation, and best medical practices in European private healthcare.
As the host, AGEL aims to create a strong platform for sharing experience, supporting cooperation, and recognising the outstanding achievements of private hospitals across Europe. We expect this event to further strengthen collaboration among healthcare providers and inspire continuous improvement in the quality of healthcare and the efficiency of its delivery.
At the same time, hosting the event in Prague confirms our ambition to further strengthen our position in Central and Eastern Europe.
What message would you like to send to all the private hospitals in Europe to encourage them to apply?
We would like to encourage all private hospitals in Europe to actively participate and to take this opportunity to share their achievements.
Every hospital that improves patient care, introduces innovations, or increases efficiency has something valuable to offer. The awards are not just about winning, but above all about showcasing best practices, learning from one another, and raising standards across the entire sector.
Participation in the awards also offers a unique opportunity to inspire others while being inspired by the best that European healthcare has to offer. It is a platform to highlight your own achievements, strengthen professional reputation, and actively shape the future of healthcare by sharing proven and effective solutions.
Why is it so important to highlight the specificities and excellence of the European private healthcare sector?
Private healthcare plays a key and complementary role in European healthcare systems. It helps increase system capacity, improve access to care, and brings innovation into everyday clinical practice. Private providers are often leaders in areas such as specialized medicine, modern technologies, digitalization, and patient experience, while operating under strict regulatory and quality standards comparable to those in the public sector. Presenting and recognizing these contributions is important, as it enables the sharing of proven practices, supports informed healthcare policymaking, and demonstrates how private healthcare contributes to sustainable, efficient and high-quality healthcare systems in Europe.
At the same time, the position of the private sector in healthcare remains a subject of public and political debate in many countries, including Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Opinions often emerge that question its role and reduce it primarily to a supposedly profit-driven segment. In practice, however, private providers bring significant benefits to the system—they increase competition, efficiency, and the pace of innovation; invest in new technologies; expand the availability of specialized services in regions; and are able to respond more flexibly to patients’ needs. In doing so, they also help alleviate pressure on the public sector, which in many cases has been under long-term strain.
It is therefore important to view private healthcare as an integral part of modern healthcare systems, where well-designed processes ensure a balance between quality, accessibility, compliance with regulatory frameworks and sustainability of care for all citizens.
Can you tell us more about the AGEL group?
AGEL is one of the leading healthcare providers in Central Europe. It is headquartered in Prague and Bratislava and operates under a unified management team for both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Group runs a network of 58 hospitals and specialized healthcare facilities across Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and in 2025 it opened the AGEL Canarias clinic in Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. In total, it employs more than 17 000 professionals.
Our strategy is built on strong regional clusters, allowing us to effectively specialize in the delivery of high quality services through individual facilities, while also creating significant synergies in the provision of healthcare services.
We continuously invest in modern technologies, including robotics, artificial intelligence, and advanced diagnostic methods. At the same time, we expand our services through both organic growth and acquisitions, strengthening our regional leadership and entering new areas. The Group’s total revenue reached €1.3 billion in 2024, having grown by more than 50% over the past five years, while EBITDA doubled during the same period.
Through our active involvement in UEHP, we aim to contribute to shaping the future of European healthcare, share know-how, learn from others and implement best practices across countries. Our long-term vision is to build a modern, efficient, and patient-centered healthcare network ready to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
