The Garofalo Health Care Group

History

The history of GHC – Garofalo Health Care S.p.A. – originated from the passion and courage of Raffaele Garofalo, a man born in 1921, driven by an underlying ideology based on a profound respect for human life; an exceptional surgeon, who decided to devote his entire life to the defence and protection of human life, in the firm belief that the patient must always be placed at the centre of the system. In this respect, he constantly supported the use innovation, striving for excellence in healthcare. In addition, Raffaele Garofalo was also a skilled entrepreneur who, starting from a simple dream, managed to lay the foundation for a solid and productive group.

As early as the 1950s, together with his two brothers, Antonio and Mario (also doctors), the young Raffaele, already an experienced surgeon, imitated a major entrepreneurial venture with the acquisition of important healthcare facilities located in the Lazio region, thereby creating the first private healthcare group in the region. But this was only the start of a journey that reached its peak at the end of the 1990s, when, Raffaele Garofalo, together with his daughter, Maria Laura, followed the path of territorial and sector diversification by acquiring healthcare facilities in various regions of Northern Italy.

This lead to the acquisition of Eremo di Miazzina in Verbania in the Piedmont region, a rehabilitation and social assistance structure. Subsequently, in May 2000, it was the turn of Villa Berica in Vicenza, a multi-speciality structure for acute care, equipped with a rehabilitation department. In August of the same year, the Hesperia Hospital of Modena, a special multi-speciality hospital for acute patients, mainly known for its Cardio-Thoraco-Vascular Department, was acquired. In 2002, the Group acquired Villa Garda in the province of Verona, a rehabilitation facility equipped with a nutritional rehabilitation and a cardiac rehabilitation department, the first European landmark for the treatment of eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia and obesity).

Raffaele Garofalo died in February 2006, but GHC’s growth path did not stop there. In 2008, the Rugani Nursing Home, today known as Rugani Hospital, was acquired in Siena. This is a multi-specialty structure for acute patients, equipped with a rehabilitation centre, as well as one for patients in a persistent vegetative state. Villa Von Siebenthal Nursing Home, located in Genzano, was also acquired in 2008. It is a residential facility dedicated to the treatment of patients with psychiatric disorders and drug addiction. During the same year, a piece of land was purchased in Gravellona Toce (Piedmont region), in an area without sanitary facilities, near an important motorway junction. The land was used to build the Raffaele Garofalo Institute, a new and important structure for recovery and functional rehabilitation.

In 2014, sector diversification was extended to the field of outpatient diagnostics with the acquisition of C.M.S.R. Veneto Medica, located in Altavilla Vicentina. In partnership with the Regional Health Service (SSR), the facility represents a centre of excellence in the field of diagnostic imaging and cardiology, through its use of advanced technology, high medical expertise and organizational efficiency.

In June 2017, it became part of the Garofalo business reality, owned by the Fides Group, directly or through subsidiaries and associated companies, of 11 social and healthcare facilities located in Genoa and in the Province of Genoa. It is one of the most important private healthcare and management services in the Liguria region, focusing mainly on physical therapy, motor and psychiatric rehabilitation, disability and long-term care.

In addition, after a few months, Garofalo strengthened its presence in the Emilia-Romagna region by taking over the Casa di Cura Prof. Nobili in the Bologna Province, a facility equipped with a medical department, a surgical unit, a dialysis room, a large outpatient diagnostic department, and a unit for initial/emergency care. The structure carries out the function of “ospedale per il territorio” (hospital for the territory).

Today, GHC is present in six Italian regions (Lazio, Piedmont, Veneto, Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, Liguria) and covers all the health and social care sectors: from high-complexity surgery to medium- and low-complexity surgery, to emergency surgery and medicine, to clinical and interventional cardiology, to motor, neurological, cardiac and nutritional rehabilitation, to extended and intensive care units (RSA), to centres for patients in coma and persistent vegetative states, and to psychiatric and diagnostic centres.