Ramsay Health Care UK has been named ‘secondary provider of the year' at the prestigious Health Investor Awards.
Ramsay, which runs over 30 independent hospital facilities in the UK, beat six other finalists to the award, which was accepted by Ramsay's UK Chief Executive, Jill Watts, at the awards ceremony in London's Hilton Park Lane.
Jill Watts commented: “Ramsay are thrilled to have been named secondary provider of the year. 2008 was our first year of business in the UK, so is a real honour to be recognised in this way in such a short time. The award reflects the hard work of all our UK and Australian colleagues in getting Ramsay Health Care UK off to a flying start.”
Ramsay opened their first hospital over 40 years ago, in Australia, and is still chaired by founder Paul Ramsay. The group now has over 100 hospitals in three countries, and entered the UK market through acquisition in November 2007
Jill Watts continues: “Ramsay spent a number of years looking for the right acquisition to move into Europe, and since making the move we have not looked back. The business is performing very well and exceeded expectations in 2008, with hospital admissions up 23% over the prior year.”
Ramsay Health Care UK's growth is being bolstered by capital expenditure of some £28 million over the 2009 and 2010 financial years. Jill Watts comments: “Improvements are being carried out at a number of facilities and will increase our operating capacity by 17%. We will also continue to look for capacity expansion and bolt-on acquisition opportunities that will add value to our business.”
The Health Investor Awards were judged by a panel of experts including senior figures from the financial sector and the Department of Health. The awards were presented by The Right Honourable Michael Portillo, who presented Jill Watts with Ramsay's award. For further information visit http://www.healthinvestor.co.uk/healthInvestorawards2009.aspx.