Image Makeover: Poland Turning Heads as Sponsor of World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress

Washington, DC, August 27, 2014 --(PR.com)-- Once identified as a “cold country,” health and wellness seekers – particularly those from Scandinavia, Germany and Eastern Europe – are warming up to a government-backed initiative of the Polish Medical Tourism Consortium, a sponsor of the 7th World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress, Sept. 20-24, 2014, in Washington, D.C., the Medical Tourism Association® announced today.

“We understand the people have outdated images of Polish medical facilities, but we are here to say we now have world-class facilities,” said Magdalena Rutkowski, who leads the Polish Medical Tourism Consortium. “It amazes me that people would pay $100,000 for a heart bypass surgery in the United States, when, if they fly nine hours to us, they can have as good or better treatment -- and pay just $15,000.”

Rutkowski said that 320,000 medical tourism patients visited Poland for treatment in 2012, of which 42 percent arrived for plastic surgery, notably breast implants. A third came for dental procedures, and 9 percent for weight-loss treatments, such bariatric surgery. At the Medicover Centre in Warsaw – named Polish international hospital of the year – plush standards in the 5-year-old, 180-bed facility coupled with low infection rates and world-class success rates are giving the best U.S. hospitals a run for their healthcare dollars. For more on the Polish Medical Tourism Consortium, go to: http://www.polandmedicaltourism.com/

“The EU directive empowering consumers with the right to use healthcare services in other European countries will only enhance Poland’s bid to become the medical tourism center of Europe,” said Renée-Marie Stephano, President of the Medical Tourism Association®. “Facilities, now the envy of healthcare professionals throughout Europe, along with low-cost flights, inexpensive accommodations and attractive tourism cities like Krakow are already enough to tip a competitive advantage in Poland’s favor.”

The World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress attracts some 3,000 key stakeholders – hospital administrators, doctors and clinicians, employers, government policy makers, insurance executives, facilitators, and hospitality and tourism interests – from across the globe to share their experiences and identify and solve issues that bear significantly on the industry. For a preliminary list of speakers, go to: http://www.medicaltourismcongress.com/speakers_year/2014-speakers/

The Congress agenda features the 5th Ministerial Summit, Global, the 3rd Medical Directors Summit, the 2nd Global Women’s Leadership Summit, regional and industry forums, and educational workshops included among more than 1,000 networking meetings for up to 200 qualified buyers of healthcare. Participants, sponsors and invited speakers can keep abreast of Congress updates at www.MedicalTourismCongress.com or make an impact today on the Congress networking platform at http://www2.mtcongress.com/wmtc-networking/