ONE MORE THING: PRIVATE MEDICAL operator Euromedic will open its latest Irish facility on Monday in Kilkenny. It involves a €2 million investment and will create up to 10 jobs, chief executive Colm Davitt told me.
The international group entered the Irish market in 2007 by acquiring MRI Ireland and now offers MRI scans, ultrasounds, X-rays and other diagnostic services in Dublin, Cork and the west of Ireland.
“This [Kilkenny] came on foot of local GPs approaching us and wanting us to establish a service,” Davitt said. “In many cases, they were sending patients to us in Dublin or Cork.”
He said the group is currently treating about 100,000 patients a year and it wants to grow this by 50 per cent over the next three years. It has annual revenues of about €15 million and Davitt said it is “profitable” though he declined to reveal a figure.
To date, Euromedic – which is tax resident in the Netherlands – has invested about €45 million in Ireland. “This is a long-term investment. There will be a shift towards more private healthcare provision.” Davitt wants to add more clinics to Euromedic’s network here. “We’ve a few options under consideration and I hope we might open another one in early 2012,” he said.
Euromedic is one of the few tenants in Michael O’Flynn’s “monumental” Elysian tower in Cork.
The Elysian launched just as the property bubble was about to burst and is mostly empty.
“Our lights are definitely on,” Davitt joked. “It’s quite a landmark . . .everybody knows where we are.”