Albania & Kosovo: American Hospital

Preeminent Healthcare Provider in Albania and Kosovo

Overview

The public healthcare sectors in Albania and Kosovo are historically underdeveloped and underfunded. Albanian citizens need to travel to nearby countries for treatment due to a lack of specialists, particularly in cardiology and cardiac surgery. Given these local challenges, Southeast Europe Equity Fund II (“SEEF II”) negotiated the acquisition of the leading private cardiology and cardiac surgery clinic in Tirana, Albania in 2008 and developed a long-term business plan with the founder and CEO of the company. The initial focus was on fulfilling the gap in cardiology and cardiac surgery and to later move to a roll up strategy to expand the different specializations.

Today, American Hospital (“AH”) is noted for its many firsts in the area of medicine in Albania as evidenced by the following medical milestones:

• First renal transplantation in Albania (2007)
• First cochlear transplantation in Albania (2009)
• First liver transplantation in Albania (2013)
• Introduced the PPP concept to dialysis services in Albania (2015)
• First cornea and limbal transplantation in Albania (2017)
• First IVF embryology and andrology center performing prenatal genetic diagnostics in Albania
• Established the first international multidisciplinary medical congress in Albania (2015) http://imca.al
• American Laboratory Network is the only one in Albania certified by ISO15189

American Hospital has become the standard of healthcare in Albania and Kosovo on the basis of its high-quality multidisciplinary services, high standard of medical equipment, qualified professional staff and implemented best managerial and operational practices.

Key Facts

Current Activities

• AH benefits from excellent hospital locations, modern facilities, and people-oriented methodologies, which contribute to its market ranking as the best healthcare provider in the two countries.
• AH’s emphasizes continuing education for its employees, with monthly conferences for each department. Employees are keen to participate in training, which is not mandatory, as AH often prepares complex cases that significantly improve the knowledge and skills of its employees.
• AH also has high flexibility in shift arrangements to accommodate and balance the needs of its surgeons and surgical nurses who have long shifts.
• AH is currently expanding its maternity unit through increasing gynecology capacity and patient rooms in response to the increasing demand for delivery services.
• AH is expecting to expand its pediatric practice and bridge the service gap as the region does not have sufficient providers of these services.

American Hospital’s Gender Equality Scorecard©

Albania/Kosovo Gender Demographics

• Having emerged in the early 90s as the poorest country in Europe, Albania is now an upper-middle-income country and an EU member candidate.
• However, Albanian women continue to face barriers to enter and stay in the job market. Many women leave employment permanently as soon as they marry and have children.
• As a result, Kosovo is not capitalizing on its educated young population.
• Only 11.5% of 15–64-year-old women are actively contributing to the economy through employment.
• Gender disparities in Kosovo indicate that women are particularly disadvantaged, especially in regard to labor market participation and access to economic opportunities.

Women Economic Empowerment Highlights

Pay Equity

• No significant pay discrimination for the employees in American Hospital
• This vector is skewed due to the comparatively high salary paid to AH’s male founder and CEO
• Women account for nearly half, or 48%, of the 10% of AH’s most highly compensated employees

Benefits & Professional Development

• AH places significant attention on employee training and ensures the highest quality material for each position, developed by internal and external resources
• AH also established the first international multidisciplinary medical congress in Albania which is currently in its fifth year
• These efforts are expected to equip its employees and increase capacity for complex medical conditions.
• Recognizing high emigration rates across the region, management has paid significant attention to leave and insurance policies and practices to attract and retain talent

Workforce Participation

• With 69% of women participation across the Hospital group, AH provides more than 1,000 women with economic independence that increase their personal autonomy and enhance their economic and social status
• In 2019, the turnover ratio of women employees was 27% less than that of men’s
• With opportunities in Western Europe often attracting talent from the Balkans, AH is experiencing a lower turnover rate than average due to regular training programs & its safe working conditions

Workplace Environment

• AH provides private transportation to all employees during their late-night shifts
• Despite the low crime rate in the areas in which it operates, AH takes measures to ensure the safety of its employees, with the majority being women
• AH adheres to the highest environmental and occupational safety standards partly due to its ability to attract talent who bring to AH the best practices in implementing such high standards

Leadership & Governance

• AH scores highly in the leadership and governance vector
• The high rating is representative of AH’s strong executive management team, as well as for its competitive ability to attract and retain talented women professional staff
• With women accounting for 50% of senior and middle management representation, American Hospital is a role model among corporations in Albania and Kosovo

Women Powered Value Chains

• AH is the largest provider of maternity units in Albania and Kosovo, providing quality maternity services and is opened to all
• AH is expanding its pediatric and maternity practices in response to the increasing demand thereby bridging the service gap in the two countries
• The Hospital has a high women representation in both marketing and procurement