Joint Statement of the Executive Council and Swiss Medical Network of 10 January 2020

Swiss Medical Network enters in the capital of Hôpital du Jura bernois

The privately owned group Swiss Medical Network enters into the share-capital of Hôpital du Jura bernois (HJB SA). The Executive Council of the canton of Bern has decided to sell 35% of the shares of HJB SA for approximately CHF 27 million. This public-private partnership will ensure the safeguarding of a comprehensive range of acute somatic and psychiatric care services for the French-speaking population of Bern in the rapidly changing hospital landscape. In addition to its entry into the share-capital, Swiss Medical Network has committed to invest CHF 25 million over the next three years, in order to support the projects of Hôpital du Jura bernois in Moutier and Saint-Imier.

Although the hospital list of the canton of Bern includes number of private clinics, it is the first time that a private group acquires a stake in a hospital belonging to the canton of Bern. This innovative approach provides a sustainable solution for the future of the Hôpital du Jura bernois and guarantees healthcare services for a peripheral region. With the entry into the share-capital of Swiss Medical Network, HJB SA will invest more than CHF 25 million in the Moutier and Saint-Imier sites over the next three years, thus guaranteeing the long-term sustainability of the sites and their development.

The contract also foresees an option for Swiss Medical Network to acquire a majority stake in HJB SA within three years. 

HJB SA owns the hospitals of Moutier and Saint-Imier, the mental health centre, including the Bellelay clinic, as well as the Médicentre in Tavannes. It also has participations in the Médicentre in Moutier, the Inter-Jurassic Pharmacy, the Institut de radiologie du Jura bernois and the Biel-Seeland-Jura radiation oncology Centre.

Swiss Medical Network's entry into the share-capital of Hôpital du Jura bernois will stabilise the situation of these institutions with strong regional roots and will safeguard jobs. It is also in line with the Group's strategy of developing an integrated regional healthcare system.

Swiss Medical Network is the second largest private group of clinics and outpatient centres in Switzerland. It has state-of-the-art medical infrastructures and offers patients first-class outpatient and inpatient care in a wide range of specialities. Around 2'000 doctors and 3'000 employees work in the group's 19 clinics and more than 20 outpatient centres in 13 cantons and in the three language regions of the country. In the canton of Bern, Swiss Medical Network owns the entire surgical complex of Privatklinik Siloah in Gümligen.

The clinics in the cantons of Aargau, Basel, Bern, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, St. Gallen, Schaffhausen, Solothurn, Ticino and Valais figure on the hospital lists and provide a public service mandate. Swiss Medical Network is a wholly owned subsidiary of AEVIS VICTORIA SA, listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. In the canton of Bern, the latter owns the Victoria-Jungfrau Hotel in Interlaken and operates the Bellevue Hotel in Bern.

Note to the Editors

For further information, a press conference will be held this Friday, 10 January at 2 pm. in the Rathaus, Bern, room 401. The Executive Councillor and Director of Health Pierre Alain Schnegg, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of HJB SA Anthony Picard, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Swiss Medical Network Raymond Loretan and the Delegate of the Board of Swiss Medical Network Antoine Hubert will explain the details of this transaction and will be available for questions and interviews.

Please announce your presence at communication@be.ch by 12:00 noon.

For more information:
Staatskanzlei, Amt für Kommunikation 
+41 31 633 75 91
kommunikation@be.ch 

Swiss Medical Network, Media relations
+41 79 607 99 69
media@swissmedical.net

AEVIS VICTORIA, Media & Investor Relations, c/o Dynamics Group, Zürich
+41 43 268 32 35 oder +41 79 785 46 32
prb@dynamicsgroup.ch