Vithas will invest 60 million in building a hospital in Esplugues

Vithas will build a state-of-the-art hospital in Baix Llobregat. The private healthcare group owned by Goodgrower, the investment vehicle of the Gallardo family, owner of the pharmaceutical company Almirall, expects to obtain permits from the Esplugues City Council by the end of this year to build a hospital with a constructed area of 40,000 square meters. The goal is to open the center in 2023, the year in which the chain will achieve its objective of having its own hospital in Barcelona.

The project will involve an investment of 60 million euros and aims to become "a benchmark in Catalan healthcare," as it will be equipped with the latest medical-surgical technology and will offer a wide portfolio of services, in addition to incorporating teaching and research activities.

"Catalonia is a strategic territory for our growth and expansion plans, so I am confident that the new hospital in Barcelona will be the spearhead of new future investments that we are already exploring," says Dr. Pedro Rico, general director of Vithas. The hospital will be built on the former site of Rayo Amarillo and will become the group's 21st hospital. The group has private clinics in Alicante, Valencia, Castellón, Almería, Malaga, Madrid, Seville, Granada, Vigo, Las Palmas, Tenerife, and Lleida. The company also controls a stake in the Balearic group Juaneda and has 22 medical centers.

Since the beginning of 2021, 100% of Vithas belongs to Goodgrower, which bought the 20% that was held by Criteria, the investment holding company of the "La Caixa" Banking Foundation. The company is chaired by Jorge Gallardo Piqué, son of the president of the Barcelona-based pharmaceutical company Almirall.

With a turnover of 547 million euros in 2019 and 10,500 employees, Vithas has practically tripled its revenues in less than ten years, as it had a turnover of 200 million and owned only ten hospitals in 2012, when the company was born after the decision of the insurer Adeslas to divest from its hospital network. The ambitious growth plan with acquisitions and the financial muscle of Vithas' owners have managed to create the second largest group in the private healthcare sector in Spain, behind Quirónsalud, owned by the German multinational Fresenius Helios. Precisely, Quirónsalud is the absolute leader of private hospitals in Barcelona, owning centers such as Clínica Teknon, Hospital Quirón, El Pilar, Dexeus and Hospital General de Catalunya.

The construction of the Vithas clinic in Esplugues will thus increase competition in the Barcelona market, where the HM group also plays a strong role, having just invested 30 million in the renovation of Hospital HM Nou Delfos and also owning hospitals HM Nens and HM Sant Jordi. It so happens that in Esplugues de Llobregat is also located Clínica Diagonal, owned by the insurer Fiatc.

This project in Barcelona is not the only one Vithas has underway. The chain will begin construction of its third hospital in Valencia at the end of the year and will also invest 30 million euros in the renovation of Hospital La Milagrosa in Madrid, in addition to expanding Hospital Vithas Xanit Internacional in Benalmádena (Málaga), with an investment of 16 million euros.