Netherlands: A first in special care: ’s Heeren Loo borrows from EIB

• €200 million EIB-loan for new construction and renovation of ’s Heeren Loo’s care facilities.
• Financing is first EIB-investment in The Netherlands specifically targeting care for people with intellectual disabilities.

’s Heeren Loo, market leader in care for people with intellectual disabilities in The Netherlands, will be the first party in its sector to borrow from the European Investment Bank (EIB). In first instance, this will regard a €200 million loan agreement used for s’ Heeren Loo’s medium-term investment plans. The financing will be used for direct investments in new construction of living quarters and daytime activities locations for its clients. The investments will create better care conditions for its residents and will also reduce CO₂-emissions of s’ Heeren Loo’s various premises.

With this agreement,’s Heeren Loo is the first institution that takes care of people with intellectual disabilities to sign a European loan. “That is something we’re proud of, and we worked hard for this.”, says CFO Ernst Klunder. “For our organisation this represents a good addition to the financing possibilities we already have with regular Dutch banks. Our Fitch AA-rating, which we obtained earlier this year, allows us to split our financing needs over different financiers. This new collaboration shows that there is trust in our organisation with big parties even outside our own country. That is not just a compliment for our organisation, but also for our sector.”

“The investments of the European Investment Bank has, as their ultimate goal, to improve people’s lives.”, added vice-president Christian Thomsen of the EIB. “The EIB has financed quite a number of healthcare institutions in The Netherlands in recent years, but this is the first time a projects focuses specifically on care for people with disabilities. Not only is that something to be proud of, it is also very much in line with European priorities in the social field. ’s Heeren Loo is investing heavily in further improving her service and we are glad to be able to support these plans.”

For the 2021-2025 period, ’s Heeren Loo has investment ambitions totalling €555 million. The lion share of this, some €380 million, is meant for real estate plans in the regions where it operates. The living facilities of the organisation’s clients will be adapted to the newest demands and wishes. For example, clients who currently still share sanitary facilities, will obtain private bathrooms and larger bedrooms. To implement this, a new housing concept has been developed, with the overarching idea of ‘renovation where it is possible, new construction where it is necessary’. This last point is specifically relevant for the province of Zeeland, where ’s Heeren Loo merged with care institution Arduin in 2019. Apart from living facilities, ’s Heeren Loo is also working on the functional improvement of a number of daytime activities locations.

’s Heeren Loo is the largest organization when it comes to guiding, caring for and providing housing to people with an intellectual disability. With a working area of ​​nearly 300 municipalities and nearly 650 locations, the organisation is active throughout the Netherlands and delivers care to more than 14,000 clients with 17,000 employees. ’s Heeren Loo distinguishes itself by offering complex care to a diverse client group. The vast majority of clients fall under the Long-term Care Act (84% of turnover). Many of them live with ‘s Heeren Loo all their lives. We mainly support clients with complex care needs. In addition, we provide care to clients who fall under the Social Support Act (WMO) and to clients who fall under the Youth Act, a client group experiencing strong growth.

Together with the Advisium knowledge center, ‘s Heeren Loo invests heavily in scientific research and innovation. This gives employees the knowledge and expertise to continuously improve the quality of treatments. The organization also has partnerships with universities through academic workshops to link theory and practice.