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OPINION MATTERS
for new ways of working.
These issues, international as well as European ones, will
be at the core of the next IHF Congress. It is a particular
pleasure for French hospitals strongly involved in
partnerships all over the world to receive their partners and
others to this major event. The 34th Congress will be
organised by the French Hospital Federation around four
components: risks, quality, skills and research. Two major
sessions will also draw attention to the developing world: a
one-day seminar organised jointly by the World Bank and
the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs on financing and
health policy issues; and another one on hospital
partnerships to facilitate access to care for people living with
HIV/AIDS.
Speakers invited to this Congress have been selected
because of their expertise on these subjects and they are
invited to share their observations and experience on these
problems of major importance to us today. Topics range from
hospital and sustainable development to patient safety,
culture in the hospital, financing hospital research, etc. All
the efforts will be made to organise this event as participative
as possible for our mutual benefit: a high-quality of care for
the patient. ❑
Curriculum Vitae
Name: Gérrard Vincent
Present occupation: Director General, French Hospital Federation, President of HOPE (European
Federation of Hospitals and Healthcare) and President designate, International Hospital Federation
Background: After nine years in the Ministry for Social Affairs, Gerard Vincent became Director
General of the French Hospital Federation in March 1998.
He holds a diploma in Hospital Management at the National School of Public Health Rennes in
France followed by a degree in Political Sciences and a Master of Arts from Grenoble in France.
Before becoming Chief Executive of the prestigious hospital ‘Hotel Dieu de Paris’ in 1977’, he worked
for seven years as a deputy in various ‘Assistance Publique – Hopitaux de Paris’ hospitals: such as
Bichat – Claude Bernard and Antoine Beclère.
Recruited as Director for Hospitals in the Ministry of Health in 1989, he was in charge of the 1991
Hospital Law, which reformed in depth the French hospital sector. He was promoted Social Affairs
General Inspector in 1995.
He was president of the SNCH, the public hospital managers’ trade union, from 1982 to 1989.
In May 2002, he became President of the Standing Committee of the Hospitals of the European Union
(HOPE). He is also President designate of the International Hospital Federation
48 | World Hospitals and Health Services | Vol. 40 No. 4