About

Christian Schuhmacher

Healthcare executive and board director. For more than twenty years I have worked in hospitals and healthcare systems in Switzerland, the Middle East, Africa and Asia: opening new hospitals, leading established ones through change, and today serving on and chairing the boards of healthcare groups.

Christian Schuhmacher
Today

Board work, advisory work and passing on what I have learned.

I chair the boards of Emirates Hospitals Group in the UAE and of a tertiary care hospital project in Almaty, and serve as a Non-Executive Director of smc in Riyadh, VITREA Schweiz, Hôpital Al Shifa in Djibouti and King’s College Hospital Casablanca.

Through Swissglobal Advisory, founded in 2023, I advise investors and operators on healthcare investments, turnarounds and transformation. I hold a Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching from Henley Business School (2025) and am the author of Leading with Purpose in Healthcare, to be published in March 2027.

I live in Dubai and work in English, German and French. Italian for everyday use.

Board roles

Current board roles
United Arab EmiratesEmirates Hospitals GroupChairman of the BoardIntegrated provider of acute care, primary care and rehabilitation: two hospitals, 15 clinics, two rehabilitation centres and two day surgery centres.
Saudi ArabiaSpecialized Medical Company (smc)Board and Audit Committee MemberRiyadh healthcare group, listed on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul). Two hospitals in operation and three in development.
KazakhstanTertiary Care Hospital Project, AlmatyChairman of the BoardInternational standard tertiary care hospital to be built in Almaty, opening in 2028.
SwitzerlandVITREA SchweizNon-Executive Board MemberLeading rehabilitation provider in the DACH region, with more than 80 facilities. In Switzerland: the rehabilitation clinics Zihlschlacht, Dussnang and Seewis, and the outpatient centre Zurich Seefeld.
DjiboutiHospital Al ShifaNon-Executive Board MemberOpened in June 2026, the first international standard hospital in Djibouti. 150 beds.
MoroccoKing's College Hospital CasablancaNon-Executive Board MemberKing's College Hospital, 150 beds in the first stage, opening in 2028.
In practice

Built, ran, governs, passes on

Christian Schuhmacher on a hospital construction site
BuiltNew hospitals taken from construction site to first patient.
Christian Schuhmacher with hospital leaders
RanChief executive of King's College Hospital London Dubai and Hirslanden Klinik Birshof, Hospital Director of Mediclinic City Hospital, Managing Director international business at VAMED.
Signing an international hospital partnership
GovernsChair and Board Member of healthcare groups and projects in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Djibouti and Morocco, and previously in Bahrain.
At the Future of Healthcare conference
Passes onLeading with Purpose in Healthcare, the book, and the LEAD in Healthcare programmes built from it.
Career

Where the experience comes from

Since 2023
Swissglobal Advisory, DubaiFounder and Managing Director. Advisory work for healthcare investors and operators, alongside board mandates.
2022 to 2024
VAMED Management and Services, ViennaManaging Director International, responsible for the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia, including the entry into Saudi Arabia and projects in Vietnam, Kuala Lumpur and Thailand.
2018 to 2022
King’s College Hospital London, DubaiChief Executive Officer. Close collaboration with King’s College Hospital in London, aligning clinical standards and governance with the highest levels in the UK.
2015 to 2018
Mediclinic City Hospital, DubaiHospital Director of a 270-bed tertiary care centre. Commercial growth and greater clinical depth, including the Comprehensive Cancer Centre and the first private-sector organ transplant in the UAE.
2011 to 2015
Hirslanden Klinik Birshof, ReinachHospital Director and CEO of a musculoskeletal specialist hospital within Hirslanden. Successful growth, with profitability nearly doubled in four years and a major extension completed.
2005 to 2011
University Hospital BaselChief of Executive Staff and Member of the Executive Board, after starting in corporate development.

Get in touch

For board roles, advisory work, LEAD in Healthcare or speaking.