Eric De Roodenbeke PhD, becomes new Director General of the IHF

April 2008

Eric De Roodenbeke PhD, was selected from among over 40 candidates by the IHF Selection Committee as the new Director General of the International Hospital Federation. Eric has an academic background in health economics and hospital management with a competency in public health. With more than 25 years of professional experience as a health system expert, Eric has held different responsibilities, in France, his native country and internationally, mostly in hospital management, policy design and project implementation ingeneral and university hospitals, government (French Ministry of Foreign Affairs) as well as in The World Bank. He is currently working with the Global Health Workforce Alliance in the World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, as a Senior Health Specialist.

Eric is a strong advocate for hospitals in the health system and believes that "the IHF has a critical role to play in this area in the present context of strong tensions in health care financing while countries have to respond to major challenges in health care demand resulting from the epidemiological transition, the aging population and the communicable disease threats in a context of accelerating globalization", and that "the role of the IHF is to enhance dialogue among health service providers as well as between providers and health system decision makers. It is critical that health service delivery organisations and related industries be part of the forces driving, anticipating and responding to an evolving environment and growing population expectations".

Commenting on Eric's appointment, Professor Per Gunnar Svensson, current Director General says of Eric that "he is certainly well qualified to guide and direct IHF to even greater successes than so far have been achieved."

Eric takes up his position as new IHF Director General, from 1 June 2008.