We’re setting new standards

“From the perspective of expertise, the Czech health care system is very advanced. But in general terms, it needs more empathy and a human touch. Doctors should treat their patients like partners, respect them, and approach them as individuals. They shouldn’t just treat urgent, isolated problems, but rather provide long-term comprehensive care. That’s why from the moment we founded our clinic we’ve been returning to the tradition of family doctors and building our team and services to develop a concept of holistic medicine,” emphasizes Michal Šafránek, director of MY CLINIC, a private facility that on the publication date of this issue of TRADE NEWS is holding the gala opening of its spacious one-day surgery premises.

What are the key pillars and advantages of your clinic?

We’re a medical facility that is sufficiently large to be able to provide comprehensive care for both families and corporate clients. We take pride in having not only sufficient understanding and time for our clients, but also enough space under one roof. Our goal is to establish long-term relationships, care for them not only in sickness, but also in health; we thus place great emphasis on prevention. And key pillars? Currently we have three: an outpatient facility with general practitioners and specialists, a paediatric centre, and one-day surgery.

Let’s talk about the new one-day surgery facility. This concept, which focuses on elective surgery, is currently a global trend in medicine. What’s your approach?

We want to set standards in this area, too. We have 1400 square metres that include three operating theatres equipped with the latest instruments, 14 beds in comfortable, mostly single rooms with their own “hotel” bathrooms so that both our patients and anyone that may be accompanying them feel as good as possible. We are currently prepared to perform surgery on almost all anatomical structures in the body using the latest medical procedures including orthopaedics, gynaecology, abdominal and vascular surgery, and in the future, we’d like to also focus on additional types of surgery.

Long waiting times are a big problem in the Czech health care system. Is this different at your clinic?

We currently have a team of almost 80 doctors and therapists, which allows us to react to client needs the same or next day in terms of routine care. In the area of one-day surgery, our waiting times are on the order of weeks.

Many of our readers are owners or high-level managers of companies. You mentioned corporate clients. What do you offer in this regard?

We’re capable of offering much more than your standard pre-employment physical, even though these are also important, and there have been instances where we diagnosed a serious disease. We’re capable of putting together a package of services in the area of health care and prevention precisely tailored to an employer’s requirements and budget. We can customize care for various groups of employees and can also include family members.

And one more important thing – aside from Czech, our staff also speaks English. We work with most international insurance companies and can take care of all the paperwork related to medical treatment for our international clients. A testament to the trust placed in our service is the fact that we’re an exclusive partner of the US Embassy in Prague, the sole provider of medical examinations for US visa applicants.

Michal Šafránek was interviewed by Jana Jenšíková

Photo: Marek Jenšík