EIB grants loan to provide quality healthcare in Noordwest Ziekenhuisgroep

“The EIB is proud to support Noordwest Hospital in providing even higher quality care while maintaining the universal access to services for your users,” commented EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle.

Noordwest Ziekenhuisgroep will invest EUR 230 million in hospitals in Alkmaar and Den Helder, among others. For this, a EUR 120 million loan has been granted by the European Investment Bank (EIB), with a further EUR 110 coming from BNG Bank. The municipality of Alkmaar guarantees part of the loan. The investment programme concerns the renovation of the Den Helder location, the new construction of the first phase in the Alkmaar location, the construction of an underground parking garage in Alkmaar, the renovation of the Westerlicht home and the implementation of an electronic medical records system.

"The EIB is proud to support Noordwest Hospital in providing even higher quality care while maintaining the universal access to services for your users," commented EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle. "The mission statement of the EIB is that we are here to "improve people's lives" through the financing we provide. I think that you might be one of the clearest examples of that mission statement to date."

European Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, Jyrki Katainen, said: "With support from the EU, the residents of the province of Noord-Holland will soon benefit from improved facilities and better healthcare. The Investment Plan for Europe has helped finance many medical facilities across the EU as well as ground-breaking medical research, and I am proud that we are making a tangible difference to people's lives as a result."

Joop Hendriks, chairman of the board, added: "We are very glad that we were able to close this financing agreement. We have seen a great collaboration between several governmental institutions, which have all recognised the importance of good quality hospital care in the northern part of the province of Noord-Holland. Thanks to these loans, we can cover our investment programme for the coming years. It will allow us to not only guarantee our quality care but also further expand it throughout the region. A great milestone for Noordwest!"

The base for the loans was an extensive business case which has seen long negotiations. Thanks to the chosen construction of the loan, Noordwest enjoys particularly advantageous conditions; a longer tenor and a relatively low-interest rate. The European Investment Bank will lend EUR 120 million, supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe, also known as the Juncker Plan. The municipality of Alkmaar will provide a EUR 40 million guaranteed; half of which is meant for the construction of the underground parking, half for the first phase of the new construction of the Alkmaar location.