'Rid health care of venture capital': Liberals
TT/The Local/dl - [email protected]
Published: 11 Nov, 2013 CET.
Updated: Mon 11 Nov 2013 07:38 CET
Liberal Party leaders want to ban venture capital firms from operating in the Swedish health care sector, party head Jan Björklund said on Sunday, urging the importance of "long-term" owners.
"We want to get rid of venture capital firms as owners because they are too short-sighted," Björklund to Sveriges Television (SVT). "They only focus on speculation for a few years and then they sell and move on. They're not good owners." Instead Björklund wants the companies that own nursing homes and health clinics to be held to the same standards as firms that own and operate Sweden's publicly-funded, privately-managed free schools. Following the high-profile bankruptcy of free school operator JB Education last spring, the government and opposition parties reached an agreement on tougher rules for free school owners that effectively ruled out venture capitalist-owners. Now Björklund wants the same standards – including long-term ownership – to apply to owners in the Swedish care sector. The proposal is set to be presented at the Liberal Party's national meeting, which starts on Thursday. Björklund is confident the proposal will be adopted by his party, which will then push the issue within the four-party centre-right coalition government. "My guess is that it's going to pass with wide agreement," he told the TT news agency.
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"We want to get rid of venture capital firms as owners because they are too short-sighted," Björklund to Sveriges Television (SVT).
"They only focus on speculation for a few years and then they sell and move on. They're not good owners."
Instead Björklund wants the companies that own nursing homes and health clinics to be held to the same standards as firms that own and operate Sweden's publicly-funded, privately-managed free schools.
Following the high-profile bankruptcy of free school operator JB Education last spring, the government and opposition parties reached an agreement on tougher rules for free school owners that effectively ruled out venture capitalist-owners.
Now Björklund wants the same standards – including long-term ownership – to apply to owners in the Swedish care sector.
The proposal is set to be presented at the Liberal Party's national meeting, which starts on Thursday.
Björklund is confident the proposal will be adopted by his party, which will then push the issue within the four-party centre-right coalition government.
"My guess is that it's going to pass with wide agreement," he told the TT news agency.
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