Advisory

Board and advisory work, grounded in having run hospitals.

For healthcare groups, their boards, owners and investors in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The aim is simple: to help organisations avoid the mistakes others have already made.

Healthcare leaders at a conference in the Middle East
What I do

Three kinds of engagement

Board mandates

Chair, non-executive and independent roles on the boards of healthcare groups and their holding companies, including committee work.

  • An operator’s reading of performance, clinical quality and risk
  • Experience with listed, private and publicly owned healthcare groups
  • Audit, executive, nomination, remuneration and governance committees

Turnaround and transformation

Restructuring and turnaround plans that address the operational, financial and structural questions together, and the change management that makes them hold. Engaged for the length of the assignment, with hands-on support.

  • Hospitals whose performance has fallen behind plan
  • Leadership transitions and strategic resets
  • Integration after an acquisition or merger

Investment and project advisory

Advice for investors entering healthcare markets and for owners developing new hospitals, backed by a network of specialists brought in where a project needs them.

  • Market entry and healthcare investment strategy
  • New hospital projects, from concept to opening
  • Operator selection and management agreements
Selected results

What my executive roles delivered

Results from roles I held myself as Chief Executive, Hospital Director and Managing Director.

As Chief Executive, King’s College Hospital London, DubaiClose collaboration with King’s College Hospital in London, aligning clinical standards and governance with the highest levels in the UK.
As Hospital Director, Mediclinic City Hospital, DubaiCommercial growth and greater clinical depth, including the Comprehensive Cancer Centre and the first private-sector organ transplant in the UAE.
As Chief Executive, Hirslanden Klinik BirshofSuccessful growth, with profitability nearly doubled in four years, a major extension completed and the hospital positioned as the leading musculoskeletal centre in its region.
As Managing Director International, VAMEDEntry into the Saudi market, and projects in Kuwait, Bahrain, Djibouti, Algeria, Vietnam, Kuala Lumpur and Thailand.

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.

Earlier board roles include Al Argan Riaya Rehabilitation Specialty Hospital, Kuwait, and Olayan Long-Term Care and Rehabilitation Hospital, Riyadh (2022 to 2024), and several Swiss long-term care and senior living institutions (2009 to 2015).

Executive career

2022 to 2024
Managing Director International, VAMED Management and Services, ViennaResponsible for the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia, including VAMED’s entry into Saudi Arabia and projects in Vietnam, Kuala Lumpur and Thailand.
2018 to 2022
Chief Executive Officer, King's College Hospital London, DubaiClose collaboration with King’s College Hospital in London, aligning clinical standards and governance with the highest levels in the UK.
2015 to 2018
Hospital Director, Mediclinic City Hospital, Dubai270-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
Chief Executive Officer, Hirslanden Klinik Birshof, BaselMusculoskeletal specialist hospital. Successful growth, with profitability nearly doubled in four years and a major extension completed.
2005 to 2011
Chief of Staff, Executive Board, University Hospital BaselStrategy, corporate development, finance and communications for the university hospital.
Board role
Non-Executive Board Member, Awali Hospital, BahrainSet up by Bapco more than eight decades ago, today a modern private hospital.
How I work

What I have learned, and what I have seen others learn

I bring to each mandate what I have done myself, what I have learned from it, and what I have watched others do, successfully and unsuccessfully, in hospitals and boardrooms across Switzerland, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Christian Schuhmacher among healthcare leaders at a conference
Starting from experienceMy advice is grounded in decisions I have taken myself as Chief Executive and as chair: opening hospitals, restructuring them and governing them. Frameworks have their place, but the starting point is what has worked in practice.
Learning from othersOver the years I have seen owners, boards and management teams get things right and get them wrong. The patterns repeat: ramp-up plans that are too optimistic, operating models imported without adapting them to the market, financial fixes that cost clinical quality, owners and operators who are not aligned. Recognising these patterns early is often worth more than a new idea.
An honest assessmentBoards and owners need an honest picture, including when the answer is to slow down, change course or not to proceed. I give that view directly, with the reasons behind it.
Working alongside managementChange holds when the people who run the hospital own it. I work with management teams rather than around them, and stay engaged until the change is part of daily practice.

The aim of every engagement is the same: that the organisation does not have to repeat mistakes others have already made.

Discuss a board role or mandate

Tell me about the organisation, the role and the timing.