Rebuilding VITREA after the carve-out

Organisational development without legacy issues - the carve-out as a design opportunity

A carve-out is first and foremost a complex process: dissolving existing structures, cutting dependencies, establishing the ability to act independently - and all this without interrupting operations. In the case of VITREA, there was also the fact that the old group structure was organised by country. This led to a broad range of inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient rehabilitation and care facilities, which, however, lacked a common management logic: three largely independent country organisations, hardly any cross-country cooperation, no common management logic. The new independent organisation lacked clear responsibilities between the head office and the regions. The question of how to build a scalable organisation that would enable rather than hinder further growth was unanswered.

Diagnosis and design principles as a foundation

Together with undconsorten, we began with a robust situation analysis: Where does the organisation stand? What must and should be retained? What needs to change fundamentally? On this basis, design principles were developed in executive workshops. These served as normative guidelines and a decision-making compass for all further organisational decisions. Rather than making structural decisions based on emotion or hierarchy, principle-based work created the basis for a consistent organisation.

Architecture: clinic clusters, regions, functions

The new joint organisational structure groups clinics into clusters where geographical proximity, size and specialist focus make sense. These clusters are in turn subordinate to regions. The control logic and interfaces to the head office are defined in a binding manner. The structure is deliberately designed to be flexible: Regions can be separated or merged in the event of further growth. Scalability is thus anchored in the architecture.

Structured organisational concepts have been developed for all central functions (HR/People & Culture, Finance, IT, Purchasing, Marketing, Legal, Operations). The key question here is: who decides what - and where is the boundary between headquarters and the region?
The answer follows a consistent primacy: the clinics and their operational performance take centre stage - all other areas see themselves as their service providers.

Management and governance reorganised

The Executive Board departments (CEO, COO, CFO) have been clearly focussed on regions and functions. The governance architecture regulates meeting structures, decision-making channels and escalation mechanisms. The management architecture transparently anchors roles, responsibilities and management logic in the overall model. Role profiles, use cases design core activities and interfaces in a concrete and operationalisable way. A newly established Project Management Office (PMO) ensures transparency and prioritisation of central initiatives and continuously monitors implementation.

Participation as a success factor

It was clear from the outset that this transformation could only succeed together with the managers - not for them. One of the key realisations of this project was that genuine participation is also possible under time pressure. Particularly in a phase of great uncertainty - parallel to the ongoing acquisition and integration of the nine Paracelsus clinics - the targeted involvement of key individuals was critical to success. Organisational development was not seen as a management board project, but as a joint design process. Key individuals were involved at an early stage through individual 1:1 communication in order to secure their commitment to the company and release implementation energy.

Further development in line with the claim "Stronger than yesterday"

The result is a powerful, scalable organisation with a uniform management logic that also leaves room for country-specific requirements. Central functions such as finance, purchasing and HR are bundled across countries; at the same time, the regions are given far-reaching entrepreneurial freedom - because innovations are created equally in the clinics and in the management functions.

"Centrally lean, regionally strong."

^{Dr York Dhein, COO VITREA Group}

Today, VITREA is not only better positioned operationally, but is also structurally ready for what comes next. Not reorganised, but rebuilt from the ground up. A transformation that undconsorten accompanied for over 1.5 years with varying degrees of intensity - from the initial diagnosis through to operational implementation. Organisational development was consistently understood as a cultural task: The new claim "Stronger than yesterday" in VITREA's new brand world is representative of the mindset of the employees and stands for a new shared identity. This foundation now supports the growth ambition: further acquisitions, a stronger market presence and consolidation to become Europe's leading rehabilitation platform.