6,000 private clinics and hospitals across Europe, accounting for 40% of hospital capacity: in the face of considerable challenges that know no borders, private hospitalization is an essential component of the European healthcare response. Given this role, mobilizing and supporting all resources and efforts—both public and private—is crucial to the sustainability of our healthcare systems.
This is the message we conveyed this week, alongside the European Union of Private Hospitals (UEHP), to European Commissioner for Health Olivér Várhelyi, along with another strong conviction that must guide European policies: health is a strategic investment, not merely a public expenditure.
Strong healthcare systems are essential to social cohesion, economic productivity, and Europe’s competitiveness. They also determine our ability to cope with crises and ensure that every citizen has effective access to quality care. The performance of a healthcare system is therefore not measured by whether its facilities are public or private, but by its ability to meet patients’ needs.
We had a constructive dialogue with the Commissioner, during which we also discussed his priorities—such as prevention and resilience in the face of health and climate crises—and his commitment to fostering engagement among all stakeholders. Europe has a vital role to play in driving such initiatives, promoting the sharing of best practices, and ensuring that the principles of transparency, complementarity, cooperation, and equity are fully integrated into health policies.
Equity is not a corporatist demand. It is a prerequisite for collective effectiveness: this is what drives the shared commitment emerging from this meeting to build a European dialogue grounded in on-the-ground realities and to create European health systems that are more resilient, more accessible, and truly sustainable.
