Geriatrics Segment Open to Foreign Investors - Novel Center of Expertise Established in Saxony

07/13/2009

Berlin - The German geriatrics segment is opening to foreign investors. The Israeli Goldenherz-Gruppe is investing in a European residential care center for those suffering from dementia. The center integrates patient care with research, making it unique. With an initial investment of EUR 18 million, a cross-border geriatrics and gerontology center will be established in the Saxon city of Pirna.

At the beginning of 2009, the Goldenherz-Gruppe opened a residential care center in Berlin with room for over 250 patients. On the heels of this project comes the new, ambitious project in Pirna. The center will offer full care to over 230 patients and will create more than 200 new jobs. This segment was long closed to foreign providers due to the legal structure of the German health care system.

The Goldenherz centers expand upon the traditional offerings of German residential care centers for the elderly. While ambulatory and stationary care segments have developed independently in Germany due to legal stipulations, the Goldenherz centers follow a model that combines care, on-site medical support, and research. Constant doctor supervision is guaranteed by an attached medical center, while medical personnel remain legally independent from the care center. In contrast to conventional German centers, this decreases the number and the duration of hospital stays by Goldenherz patients, which significantly improves the quality of life for patients while considerably reducing costs at the same time.

At the same time, a European platform for knowledge and information exchange should develop as a result of the geographic location of the new center, located near the borders of both Poland and the Czech Republic. A European center of expertise for dementia will be established in Pirna, integrating the Universities of Dresden, Prague, Warsaw, and Tel Aviv into one research network.

The investor is the largest care provider in the field of dementia in Israel. Boris and Lara Levin, founders of the Goldenherz-Gruppe, have established care centers for over 2000 patients since 1985 with the concept of integrated care, which has revolutionized care for elderly patients with dementia in their homeland. In addition to Germany, the group is expanding to France and Spain.

Germany Trade & Invest, the foreign trade and inward investment promotion agency of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Saxony Economic Development Corporation were active in supporting the Goldenherz-Gruppe with its investment project.