"Medlife" - the best-known private medical services provider

Cornelia Angelescu

According to the results of IMAS"s recent poll, regarding Romanian private medical service providers, Medlife grabbed the top spot when it comes to notoriety among Romanian consumers.

When asked "Which private medical services providers did you hear about?", Medlife was the first name mentioned by the people participating in the poll. On a national scale, Medlife"s aggregated notoriety (spontaneous and assisted) was 14.6%, followed by Medcenter (12.9%), Medsana (12.1%), and almost tied for the 4th and 5th spot, were Unirea Medical Center and Sanador with 11.6%, and 11.3%, respectively.

Mihai Marcu, the Chairman of Medlife"s Board said: "We believe the results of this poll are the result of our sound business strategy, which consists of having a complex system and covering all the sectors: clinic, hospital, medical analysis laboratories, corporate subscriptions, private medical insurance, our network of affiliated clinics".

Mr. Marcu further said: "We intend to stick with this strategy and to consolidate our leading position, especially now, when the private medical services sector is expanding, with Romania being one of the few countries in Central and Eastern Europe, together with Russia and Bulgaria, that has a one of the highest growth rates in this sector (25-30%)".

The poll was taken in April 2009 and sampled 1300 people across Romania.

Medlife has been operating on the Romanian market since 1996, and currently is the largest private medical services provider on the domestic market. The company holds 4 hyperclinics in Bucharest and in the country, 5 analysis laboratories, and one medical center in each of the following cities: Cluj-Napoca, Arad, Braşov, Ploieşti and Năvodari. It has a network of over 120 partner clinics all across Romania.

Medlife owns the largest Romanian private clinic - Life Memorial Hospital - which is the result of an investment worth more than 10 million Euros. The company was the first to attract the first major private investment in the sector, IFC - the consulting division of the World Bank, which became a majority shareholder holding a 20% stake. Medlife currently has approximately 1000 workers.