In 2021 UEHP turns 30!
To mark 30 years of commitment to health in Europe, we wanted to tell our story because UEHP is the story of dedicated women and men who, through common principles and shared ideas and with a strong entrepreneurial spirit, strived to implement policies that build stronger health systems and improve quality and efficiency in hospitals in Europe.
While the European Union of Private Hospitals (UEHP) was formally constituted in 1991, to understand its history we must look back some decades, to its precursors, the International Union of Private Hospitals (UIHP) and the European Confederation of Private Hospitals (CEHP). These organizations were conceived and founded by visionaries who, having lived through the atrocities of WWII and the crippling universal poverty that ensued, saw private enterprise as fundamental to the expansion of quality healthcare to all Europeans.
UEHP owes its existence to these founding fathers, and its success to the tireless pursuit of the ideals they set down in 1991. This spirit continues today, as we who inherited this noble mission, endeavour to carry on in this spirit of engagement and collaboration.
Arriving in the middle unprecedented global health crisis, our 30th anniversary has not quite turned out to be a simple celebratory occasion, to congratulate ourselves and rest on our laurels, but instead, an opportunity – and an imperative obligation – to redouble our efforts: to spread our message; to engage with European regulators and national healthcare systems; and, more than ever, to promote a spirit of pragmatic collaboration among the stakeholders in European health, not the least of which is the European citizen.
It is with all this in mind, that we humbly present this short work of history, by way of testament to the visionaries who set us on this path, as encouragement to our members and collaborators who continue to drive our mission to bring quality healthcare to every European citizen, and finally, as inspiration to future generations of UEHP to carry on in this noble effort. Our ambition is a more collaborative Europe, one that promotes free mobility and positive experiences, and that is capable of aligning goals and incentives.
The 30 years publication is available here: UEHP30yearsCommitmentToHealthInEurope.
