Last week in Rome, we had the pleasure of holding the UEHP Board and General Assembly meetings in a truly special setting: the eternal city, where our association was founded 35 years ago!
Kindly hosted by our Italian member, Associazione Italiana Ospedalità Privata (AIOP), all UEHP members gathered in Rome to celebrate 35 years of UEHP, a milestone that reflects decades of collaboration, commitment, and a shared vision for healthcare across Europe.
A highlight of the General Assembly was the signing of the Rome Declaration, through which private hospitals across Europe reaffirmed their commitment to improving access to high-quality healthcare and called on public authorities to engage in constructive dialogue on critical challenges, including healthcare workforce shortages and the digital transition.
We were honored to welcome Mrs Ylenja Lucaselli Hager, Chair of the Appeals Board, Committee on Budget, Treasury and Planning at the Chamber of Deputies, as a high-level speaker. Her insightful contribution added real value to our discussions and helped frame key challenges and opportunities ahead, with a focus on Italian and internation collaboration.
We also had the chance to welcome a new full members to our network, the Lithuanian Association of Private Healthcare. We look forward to strengthening cooperation with the team and helping Lithuanian private hospitals face the challenges ahead.
A special thank to Mr Giuseppe Clemente, Director of the GVM Care & Research Ospedale San Carlo di Nancy, which generously hosted us over the two days. The hospital visit offered a valuable opportunity to exchange experiences, see excellence in practice, and strengthen cooperation.
Huge GRAZIE to AIOP and thank you to all our members and speakers for the engaging discussions and warm spirit that made this meeting both productive and memorable. Here’s to the next chapter of UEHP!
Professor Gabriele Pelissero, UEHP Board Member
“Europe is, worldwide, the continent of healthcare welfare, of state intervention in the protection of individual and collective health, and of the aspiration to universal access to care. European healthcare is both public and private, and this is a fundamental reality that can hardly be questioned. At the same time, we are witnessing a slow and gradual shift in some healthcare systems towards new models. the Bismarck and Beveridge models are evolving from their original forms through processes of hybridisation, creating areas of overlap. From this perspective, national federations will play an increasingly important role, and UEHP will become even more a forum for dialogue, for the exchange of information, and for the synthesis of dynamics that are increasingly global.”Alberta Sciachi, UEHP President 1999–2005
“I would like to highlight how, despite the growing complexity of a constantly changing context, the core principles that have guided European private hospital care remain essential. Entrepreneurship, efficiency, quality of care, patient mobility, freedom of choice, fair competition and cooperation within a universal social protection framework. The contribution made by UEHP since its foundation continues to set a demanding and valuable path for the future.”Teófilo Leite, UEHP President 2011–2013
“Congratulations to the UEHP on reaching 35 years of activity. UEHP faithful to its founding principles with conviction and resilience. Congratulations to all of you for your decisive contribution to access to healthcare in Europe. At the time when healthcare systems in Europe are under more pressure than ever due to various factors, the UEHP mission has never been more relevant and timely. Both in terms of strengthening the various healthcare systems and helping to shape the European Health Union. For professional reasons, I’m not able to embrace you today. But you can count on me to continue supporting this common cause.”Dr Sieber, UEHP President 2013–2015
“The founding of the UEHP 35 years ago in Rome aimed not only at an amicable cooperation at European level but above all at the strategic task of bundling and representing the interests of its member organizations at EU level. Only through this was it possible to make oneself heard within the EU framework in order to achieve fair cooperation between private and public hospitals. I am proud to have been a member of this founding team.”Dr Paul Garassus, UEHP President 2015–2025
“Happy anniversary, UEHP! My message can be summarised in three words: visibility for the private sector, credibility for a reputable provider capable of serving European citizens, and perhaps the most difficult to achieve: respectability for the private sector and its commitment to the European Union. I have been President of the UEHP for 10 years and it has been an honour to represent its members. Ten years of close partnership and friendship with you, ten years of collaborative work with institutions at European level.”Oscar Gaspar, President of UEHP
“I am merely the one who has inherited the work of all of you and who is trying to take it a little further.We are grateful for your ability to set in motion this dynamic that unites us all. We face complex and growing challenges that no hospital and no country can meet alone. Our strength lies in standing side by side. United by our values and our responsibility to patients, we are — and will remain — stronger together.”
