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Athens, 4 June 2019 – The Athens Medical Group, through the Inter-Balkan Medical Group of Thessaloniki, supported, for the third consecutive time, as the sole representative of the Health sector, the “5th Thessaloniki Conference”, organized by the Institute of Internal Auditors of Greece (IIA Greece). The support of the Athens Medical Group to the important and timely initiatives of the Institute of Internal Auditors of Greece is part of the Group’s long-standing commitment to the principles of good Corporate Governance and Internal Control and Assurance, which it also applies to all of its operations.

The conference, entitled: “Current and future trends of the AuditLand”, was held at the Vellideio Conference Center of HELEXPO, with the institutional support of the Body of Public Administration Auditors and the University of Macedonia. The conference was attended by more than 150 executives, mainly from Northern Greece, who are active in the fields of Internal Audit, Risk Management and Regulatory Compliance, in the private and public sectors, while it also had international participation from Internal Auditor Institutes of Southeastern Europe and Turkey.

The Internal Audit Manager of the Athens Medical Group, Mr. Kalatzis Nikos, presented in his original presentation entitled “Honey, I shrunk the internal audit”, how small Internal Audit units can prove to be “strong”.	Roundtable discussion in the section, “Effective Management of Internal Audit Units”.(From left): Mr. Solomon Makis, panel moderator, Internal Audit Manager of Elpedison and member of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Internal Auditors of Greece, Ms. Petrovska Ilijana, Professor of the University American College Skopje (UAGS), Mr. Gün Okan, Internal Audit Manager of Enerji SA, Mr. Kalatzis Nikos, Internal Audit Manager of the Athens Medical Group.	The Athens Medical Group, through the Inter-Balkan Medical Association of Thessaloniki, supported with its participation, for the third consecutive time, as the only representative of the Health sector, the “5th Thessaloniki Conference”, organized by the Institute of Internal Auditors of Greece (IIA Greece).

The Director of Internal Audit of the Athens Medical Group, Mr. Nikolaos Kalatzis, presented in his presentation with the inventive title:“Honey, I shrunk the internal audit”, how small and flexible Internal Audit units can prove to be “strong” by generating significant added value for businesses, operating with logic, boldness and above all “passion” and systematicity in the execution of their work. Emphasizing the qualifications that an internal auditor should have, Mr. Kalatzis emphasized that patience, perseverance and determination are the dominant characteristics for achieving the goals of a small Internal Audit Unit.

At the end of the conference, the flag-giving ceremony of the «International Academic Forum» took place – which will be held for the first time in May 2020, in Thessaloniki, in collaboration with the Universities of Macedonia, Marmara and Anadolu, with the support of the Institutes of Internal Auditors of Turkey and Greece.

Ms. Apostolopoulou Peri, Internal Auditor of the Internal Audit Service of the Athens Medical Group and Mr. Kalatzis Nikos, Director of Internal Audit.

Handing over the flag of the “International Academic Forum”, which will be held for the first time in May 2020, in Thessaloniki, in collaboration with the Universities of Macedonia, Marmara and Anadolu University and with the support of the Institutes of Internal Auditors of Turkey and Greece. (From right): Mr. Ali Kamil Uzun, founder and First President of the Institute of Internal Auditors of Turkey, hands over the flag of the “International Academic Forum”, to the Professor of the Department of Accounting of the University of Macedonia , Mr. Negakis Christos and the President of the Institute of Internal Auditors of Greece, Mr. Marmalidou Verra.

The CEO of the Athens Medical Group and President of the Hellenic Entrepreneurs’ Association (EENE), Dr. Vasilis G. Apostolopoulos, stated, in this regard: 

“Today, more than ever, we must all rise to the occasion, to respond to a fundamental change of culture in social, political and economic events, which will provide the necessary development impetus and the message of progress and change in our country.” He explained, in addition, that ensuring the credibility of Greek businesses and proper corporate governance is a basic development condition, and a necessary condition for attracting investments. “We are therefore all called upon, administrations and control mechanisms, to redefine and substantially strengthen the Corporate Governance structures”, he added characteristically.

“Specifically, we must move, overall, to a new model, focused on the preventive monitoring of the organizations they supervise and not on a reaction model, based on the ex post treatment of pathogens”, he explained”. And he closed by noting that “the Athens Medical Group, the dominant Greek pole in private healthcare in our country, benefits significantly from the democratic framework of collective operation, decision-making and internal control that it has built. A governance system that is based on best international practices and allows the Group to focus dynamically on its development, in terms of extroversion, innovation and continuous investments in medical technology, top human resources and education. Thus, simultaneously increasing its corporate, economic, social and environmental footprint, demonstrating in practice its commitment to being “always one step ahead”.

For more press information:

Savvas Karagiannis, Communications Manager, General Directorate of Business Development, Iatriko Athens Group

Tel.: 210 6287236, E-mail: s.karagiannis@iatriko.gr