Vamed did not sell the special hospital

The Viennese hospital operator and healthcare provider Vamed has been sold and split up by the German owner Fresenius.

There has been political turmoil and violent union protests for months, especially because of the around 20 Vamed rehabilitation facilities throughout Austria. Because these should go to the French financial investor PAI. And from the outset, PAI was assumed to simply want to shrink the rehabilitation facilities in order to be able to sell them profitably in a few years. The works council feared serious disadvantages for patients and employees, but the issue also played into the National Council election campaign.

Now everything is different again, the excitement could probably have been saved by taking a closer look at the contracts.

Specifically, Vamed (or owner Fresenius) did not sell two facilities – the renowned Vienna Anton Proksch Institute for addicts and the children’s rehabilitation in St. Veit im Pongau (Leuwaldhof) – to the French.

A statement says: “The two facilities were not transferred as of September 30, 2024 and currently remain with Vamed. A future transfer depends on various factors agreed in individual contracts. We are in close coordination with our partners.”

The works council of the Anton Proksch Institute, Harald Steer, is happy with how things are now. “Now there is again a window of opportunity for a long-term, sensible solution to be found in the interests of patients, relatives and employees.”

What this means is that the foundation behind the Anton Proksch Institute finds an investor who will buy the house from Vamed, i.e. use the foundation’s right of first refusal.

Foundation with many donors

The foundation, which is backed by the City of Vienna, the ÖGB, the AK, the Ministry of Health and Burgenland and Carinthia, currently holds 40 percent. 60 percent belongs to Vamed.

There is a catch: Vamed has invested around 50 million euros in renovating the institute and of course does not want to end up with a loss if it is sold. But the foundation is “flat as a flounder,” as Vienna’s City Councilor for Health Peter Hacker told KURIER.

It is currently questionable who will provide the millions for the Anton Proksch Institute. If the money is not found, the institute will probably go to the French company PAI. Apparently there is a deadline of three months for the foundation to waive its right of first refusal, but this has not been confirmed.

President Gauss gives up

In any case, foundation president Richard Gauss, head of Vienna’s MA 24 Strategic Health Care, unexpectedly announced his resignation on Monday after nine years of volunteer work because of all the back and forth. “This can’t be a coincidence,” says works councilor Steer.

In any case, no potential investor for the Anton Proksch Institute has yet ventured out of cover. Hacker also said last week that the question of a purchase did not arise because Vamed did not want to sell at all. It is possible that the healthcare company is really just playing for time, waiting for the foundation to waive its right of first refusal so that it can then sell to PAI.

Burgenland’s SPÖ club chairman Roland Fürst says: “It is more than tragic that those responsible here remain inactive for so long. But it is also proof that you have to keep a close eye on the financial investors. They are the only ones concerned for their profit.”

In the office of Vienna’s city councilor Hacker, the Anton Proksch Institute case is sticking to the previous line: “The city of Vienna has no right of first refusal and the city council has no role in the foundation. A right of first refusal can only be effective if there is an offer to sell and that is likely “This question will then have to be decided by the Board of Trustees (and not the Presidium), which is chaired by a representative of the Ministry of Health.”