Executive management and organisational changes at the Hirslanden group

Stephan Pahls (55), COO East of the Hirslanden Group, has chosen to leave the company on 31 March 2022. He has been COO East and a member of the Executive Committee since 1 May 2019. Since 2008, he has held various positions at Hirslanden, including Head of Business Development of both Klinik Hirslanden and the Group, Hospital Manager of Klinik Linde and Group Regional Operating Officer. Before joining Hirslanden, Stephan Pahls, who holds a doctorate in Medicine and a master’s degree in Business Administration, worked for various international development cooperation organisations in the Middle East.

Over recent years, he has played a decisive and successful role in shaping the Hirslanden Group’s development. Under his leadership, the hospitals and outpatient units for which he is responsible have steadily developed into integrated local care networks in cooperation with selected partners. It is against this background that Hirslanden has been able to realise several co-operative ventures in recent years, such as with Spital Lachen and Spitäler Schaffhausen.

Stephan Pahls will leave Hirslanden at the end of March 2022 to again focus his efforts on humanitarian aid and development cooperation. He will be active as an independent consultant in the Swiss healthcare sector and will also contribute his experience to development projects and institutions in Switzerland and abroad. “My time at Hirslanden has been incredibly interesting and I’m very grateful for it. I feel that the time has come to refocus my career once more and, in doing so, to resume my long-standing passion for working with people on innovative projects in the Global South,” Pahls explains.

True to this intention, Stephan Pahls will take over the management of the Hirslanden Quality of Life Foundation in a contracted capacity as of April 2022. The foundation’s purpose is to promote and finance medical research, education and training in healthcare professions, and innovative projects to sustainably improve the quality of life of people in Switzerland and abroad.

Daniel Liedtke, CEO of the Hirslanden Group, says, “I would like to sincerely thank Stephan Pahls for his years of outstanding work for the Hirslanden Group. During his time at Hirslanden, Stephan Pahls has created added value for individuals, society and the Hirslanden Group; he’s a person who lives values and it’s this that sets him apart. Even though I’m extremely sorry to see him go, I can understand his expressed wish to concentrate more on humanitarian work again. I wish him every success and satisfaction in this endeavour and am pleased that he will remain associated with Hirslanden as managing director of our Quality of Life Foundation.”

As a consequence of this change in management, the Hirslanden Group is adapting the organisational structure of its Executive Committee. Hospitals in both regions (East and West) will report to Stéphan Studer (45), currently COO West, as of 1 April 2022. The division of hospitals into West and East regions will therefore no longer be required. This simplification of the Group structure has become possible thanks to positive organisational developments in the care regions over the past few years. It has, for instance, been possible to network the hospitals within the care regions more effectively with each other using the hub-spoke model, which facilitates more efficient management structures.

“I'm extremely pleased that Stéphan Studer has agreed to take over the operational management of both regions. He has a wealth of experience within the Hirslanden Group. This decision means that continuity is ensured and we have a well-established Executive Committee member to rely on,” says CEO Daniel Liedtke.

Stéphan Studer has worked for the Hirslanden Group since 2015, first as Hospital Manager of Clinique La Colline, then as Regional Operating Officer West from October 2018 and as COO West and member of the Executive Committee since 1 May 2019. “I’m looking forward to the new challenge ahead and to continue building on the foundations laid by Stephan Pahls,” says Stéphan Studer.