Why this is important to Wisconsin businesses: Wisconsin’s expertise in health care devices and technology may help the country upgrade its facilities and digitize its systems.
Romania wants to overhaul its health care operations.
The government is building hospitals and digitizing health care systems, with financial assistance from the European Union.
The program, announced by Prime Minister Ludovic Orban in 2020, involves building three regional hospitals and 10 county hospitals, and updating equipment in another nine hospitals throughout the country. In all, €7.5 billion ($8.7 billion USD) will be allocated for the projects through 2027, Orban said.
Currently, Romania’s hospitals are located in its bigger cities, and some patients in rural areas have to travel as long as seven hours to get to one of them, Cristina Gafton, director of Regional Hospitals Directorate in the Ministry of Health, said.
In a 2022 article by the European Investment Bank, Gafton said the new regional hospitals will have a major impact on more than just health care availability; they will become centers of new development and growth for the local economies. She said the hospitals will employ more than 6,000 people and will provide new career opportunities for highly specialized professionals.
Digital transformation will be part of the health care makeover, improving medical recordkeeping and opening prospects for telehealth.
According to Fitch Solutions’s 2023 Medical Devices Report, demand in Romania for health care services, medical equipment, and diagnostic technologies is expected to grow by 6.9% over the coming years. The report forecasts a total market volume of €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion USD) by 2027.
The growth, combined with Romania’s modernization efforts, may create opportunities for Wisconsin companies to export medical devices and technologies and to participate in the country’s medical infrastructure.
Wisconsin companies in that sector may want to consider attending ROMMEDICA, Romania’s leading international trade fair for medical instruments, equipment, and pharmaceuticals, held annually at the ROMEXPO Exhibition Centre in Bucharest.
