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Delivering value through an integrated healthcare service platform — Interview with David Rolfe, Group CEO, Ergéa

Demand for advanced diagnostic services and cancer care is growing across Europe. At the same time, healthcare systems are facing pressure to invest in new technologies while working within tight budgets and dealing with increasing complexity. In this context, partnerships with specialised private providers are becoming an important part of the solution.

HBI spoke with David Rolfe, the recently appointed Group CEO of Ergéa, a pan-European healthcare infrastructure and services platform combining hospital partnerships with clinical operations across diagnostics and oncology. In this interview, we discuss Ergéa’s growth plans, opportunities in the European healthcare market, and the key trends shaping the sector.

 

HBI: For Ergéa, do you expect growth to come primarily through organic expansion or acquisitions as you scale the platform in 2026?

David Rolfe: We see strong opportunities across both organic growth and acquisitions, and we will continue to pursue a balanced approach.

On the clinical side, we plan to expand our network of medical centres through a combination of greenfield developments and targeted acquisitions. At the same time, we are continuing to grow our hospital partnerships, working with healthcare systems to finance, deploy and manage advanced medical technologies across diagnostic imaging and oncology.

Our model is built around operating across the full lifecycle of healthcare infrastructure – from equipment selection and financing, through maintenance and optimisation, to direct patient care. Each part of the business reinforces the other.

Alongside expansion, a key driver of growth is the optimisation of our existing platform. We currently operate 44 outpatient clinics, the majority focused on radiotherapy, making us the largest network of private radiotherapy clinics in Europe. Increasingly, we are improving performance through data, analytics and AI-driven tools – both clinical and operational – which gives us a significant runway for organic growth.

 

HBI: Which areas of medical technology or clinical services are you prioritising?

Rolfe: Our focus is on radiotherapy, diagnostic imaging and nuclear medicine – all areas where we see strong structural growth driven by both demographics and technology.

One particularly exciting development is theranostics, which brings together diagnostics and therapy, especially across nuclear medicine and oncology. This is a natural fit for our platform, given our capabilities across both imaging and treatment, and we see this as a significant growth area in the coming years.

We are also investing in artificial intelligence in two key areas. The first is clinical AI, where there is a rapidly evolving landscape of tools supporting diagnostics and treatment planning. The second is operational AI, where we focus on improving productivity – optimising patient pathways, increasing throughput, and enhancing the utilisation of equipment.

A key advantage for us is that we generate proprietary data across both our own clinical operations and the equipment we manage within hospitals. This includes utilisation, performance and lifecycle data, which allows us to utilise these technologies in a more targeted and effective way than standalone providers.

 

HBI: As Ergéa expands into new markets, which geographies are you prioritising?

Rolfe: Our primary focus remains on Western Europe; we already have a strong presence in Germany, Italy and the UK, with significant runway for future growth in each.

The UK is a leading market for long-term hospital partnerships, particularly PPP and Managed Equipment Service models, providing stable and predictable revenues. Germany offers significant opportunities for clinical operations and consolidation, particularly in outpatient radiotherapy and imaging. Italy combines these elements, providing attractive opportunities to expand outpatient centre networks and to establish regional partnerships and long-term Integrated Clinical Solutions contracts with both private and public hospitals. Beyond our existing markets, we are selectively exploring opportunities in other European countries such as France, where the underlying healthcare dynamics align with our capabilities.

Overall, we take a measured approach. We focus on markets where our model fits and can deliver lasting results, rather than expanding just for the sake of it.

 

HBI: What differentiates Ergéa’s model of combining hospital partnerships with its own outpatient clinics, and why is it attractive from an investment perspective?

Rolfe: We operate across three interconnected layers of the healthcare system.

First, we partner with hospitals on a long-term basis. We help fund, install and run key diagnostic and cancer equipment. That covers not just the machines themselves, but also things like choosing the right technology, managing projects, integrating systems, training staff and improving workflows. We’re not tied to any equipment supplier, so we can focus on what works best for the hospital in terms of performance, lifespan and cost.

Second, we run our own medical centres, where we provide services like radiotherapy, imaging and nuclear medicine directly to patients. This gives us a clear view of what patients and clinical teams actually need, and how the equipment is used day to day.

Third, we have in-house engineering and data teams. We look after a large amount of equipment across radiology and other clinical areas, helping to keep it running reliably, manage costs and track how it’s being used.

These three areas are closely linked. What we see in our medical centres feeds into how we support hospitals. Our hospital work gives us scale and long-term relationships. And our engineering and data work helps us keep improving how everything runs.

From an investment perspective, this model gives us a mix of steady long-term contracts and opportunities to improve performance over time. It also means we build strong, ongoing relationships within healthcare systems.

 

HBI: How do you assess the market for radiology, radiotherapy and nuclear medicine in Europe? What is driving growth?

Rolfe: There are strong structural tailwinds across all three areas.

An ageing population is a big factor, with more cases of cancer and other long-term conditions. At the same time, advances in technology mean imaging and targeted treatments are being used more widely in both diagnosis and care.

What’s also changing is how healthcare systems deal with this technology. Hospitals are under financial pressure, and it’s becoming harder to manage increasingly complex equipment and digital systems on their own.

Because of this, many are moving away from one-off purchases and towards longer-term partnerships with providers who can handle everything from funding and procurement to maintenance and ongoing improvements.

That’s where our approach fits in. We bring together operational, clinical and engineering experience to help hospitals run services more effectively and manage costs over time.

Staying independent from equipment suppliers is an important part of that. With technology moving quickly, especially in areas like AI, hospitals need flexibility when choosing and using new tools. Our role is to support those decisions and help manage the process over the long term.

We would welcome your thoughts on this story. Email your views to Hemani Vipul Sheth or call 0207 183 3779.