Experience

Appointed by Medical University of Vienna International as Medical Director and Chief Medical Officer (CMO), I was tasked with launching the private ASA Hospital Sarajevo in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, I am involved with the not-for-profit ASA Institute, which is dedicated to teaching, education, innovation and research. ASA Hospital Sarajevo is the first private general hospital in Bosnia and Herzegovina, established in collaboration with Medical University of Vienna International. Since opening successfully and welcoming its first patients in April 2024, the hospital has achieved month-on-month patient growth of 20–30%.

Vice President, Medical Affairs – Medpoint Asia
As part of this role, I served as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for R&F Hospital in Guangzhou, leading the start-up of this specialist private international hospital in affiliation with UCLA Health. In addition to the international hospital, with capacity for up to 500 beds, the development includes three residential buildings comprising approximately 500 retirement condominiums, together with a rehabilitation centre and 24/7 care. The MPL application process for the Medical Practice Licence, a prerequisite for opening the hospital to patients, was successfully completed on 30 May. The licence to operate this Class II hospital was subsequently issued in June 2023.

Appointed for an interim six-month period to restructure and reorganise the St Helena healthcare system, including its organisation and operational framework. Following a strategic review of the Health Directorate aimed at improving cost-effectiveness, I began leading the transition towards an independently managed, not-for-profit yet commercially minded model, including the introduction of a health insurance arrangement. In addition, I initiated the process of shifting healthcare on St Helena from a purely therapeutic model to a more preventive approach to medicine.

Appointed to reorganise this tertiary private hospital. All medical staff — including doctors, nurses and technicians — as well as auxiliary services such as Pharmacy, Medical Records, Radiology, Laboratory, Pathology and Blood Banking, reported directly to me. My principal remit was to restructure patient services in order to improve quality and clinical outcomes, and to prepare the hospital for accreditation by establishing a substantial clinical governance and quality assurance programme. I was also responsible for assembling and organising a cardiac team to launch the country’s only cardiac surgery service. In addition, I oversaw the hospital’s public relations activities, introduced new marketing initiatives, and established training programmes for young local doctors. Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting need for quarantine hospital and intensive care capacity in Port Moresby, the cardiac surgery programme was discontinued. With the declaration of a state of emergency in Papua New Guinea, I subsequently left the country.

Appointed eight months prior to the planned opening of the hospital to organise the Cardiac Department, with responsibility for the pre-opening phase, operational launch, logistics, and medical start-up of both the hospital and the Surgical Department, including preparation for JCI accreditation. Within one month, my remit was expanded to encompass overall responsibility for the entire hospital as Medical Director / Chief Medical Officer. All medical staff and auxiliary services reported directly to me. I was responsible for all medical pre-opening logistics, the development of standard operating procedures and quality control standards, the establishment of effective clinical governance systems, and the management of the medical start-up and JCI accreditation process. I also led the medical recruitment component of the HR function, overseeing the selection and appointment of more than 80 international specialists and consultants through to the hospital’s successful opening and its first successful surgical and medical interventions. I developed strategic initiatives to build new capabilities for the hospital, initiated collaborations and partnerships with NGOs to reach potential patients, and designed and managed innovative screening programmes. I was also involved in the broader management of the hospital and prepared regular reports for the Board. In addition, I cultivated relationships and partnerships with suppliers to manage the hospital’s complex supply chains, made particularly challenging by the remote location of the Maldivian islands.

One of the first non-Chinese doctors to lead a newly established private cardiac hospital in China. I organised the logistics and medical start-up of a 300-bed specialist cardiac centre, including 40 intensive care beds, providing adult and paediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery services. In 2015, Jilin Heart Hospital became the University Teaching Hospital of Beihua University, Jilin. I was responsible for overseeing the entire pre-opening and opening process, establishing medical and clinical standards, developing operational procedures, recruiting personnel, and attracting specialist expatriate doctors from abroad. A key priority was the creation of a bilingual English–Chinese working environment, including language training, as well as the implementation of appropriate IT systems, medical documentation processes, and effective clinical governance structures. I also established a programme of continuous daily education and training for doctors and nurses. As there was very limited Western-style medical infrastructure in this largely rural province, a major organisational priority was the development of a basic follow-up programme for patients after treatment. I also introduced an entirely new cardiac physiotherapy and rehabilitation service, which was largely unfamiliar in China at that time. One of our greatest achievements was the launch of an innovative social healthcare reimbursement initiative in Jilin Province: the JIXIN Programme (Ji – Jilin / 吉; Xin – Heart / 心). This scheme provided 100 per cent cost coverage for cardiac diagnosis and treatment for the population of Jilin Province at our hospital. For the first time, this enabled genuine access to cardiac diagnosis and treatment for the rural population.

Organized the pre-opening of this hospital and started this specialized cardiac hospital from an empty building to the first successful surgery in 6 month and turned it into the leading cardiac center in Albania at that time.

Invited as visiting cardiac consultant to the cardiac surgery department at the Kind Faisal Hospital and Research Center in Jeddah and was flown to Riyadh and asked to apply for the position as head of department.

Part-time consultant cardiac surgeon responsible for all adult cardiac operations - specifically complex mitral valve repair procedures, and assisting, training of young doctors.

Part-time visiting consultant cardiac curgeon in Skopje at this new cardiac surgery program - operating up to 4-5 open heart operations per day myself and helping to train young doctors.

Parallel to working as a cardiac surgeon in Vienna and Skopje I had my main interest as CEO and entrepreneur for the start-up project development of a private Heart Centre & combined hotel in Austria. This venture, in cooperation with the US Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF) and the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) was aiming to realize a highly specialized private Cardiac Centre in Austria. A 200 bed private medical facility in combination with a 200 bed hotel was developed up to the finalized bank financing [62 Mio€ bank leasing and raised seed investment of 22 Mio€] with all permissions for realization and starting construction. The project was sold to an Austrian government group - the new hospital opened as psychosomatic clinic in 2011.

Part-time visiting consultant cardiac curgeon at the city hospital Vienna-Lainz parallel my main interest as CEO and entrepreneur to start a a private Heart Centre.