Kristina Judine (on the right) together with Lithuania's winner 2021, Silvija Sutkuté.
Photo: Yanan Li
Addere Care has expanded its scope in Lithuania. You have a care facility in Trakai, and now a facility in the capital, Vilnius. Can you explain what were the main drivers behind your expansion? Why was this possible now?
Nursing is the axis around which all our business activities revolve. It’s not that we have many businesses, with nursing being just one of them; nursing is central to everything we do. We are motivated and passionate about helping sick people live with dignity during the most vulnerable times of their lives—not just to wait for death, but to truly live.
When we entered this sector, we set out to change the culture of nursing in Lithuania. Our goal was to help Lithuania move away from the post-Soviet attitude where the focus is primarily on the disease, the doctor, and a hierarchical system. Prioritizing the disease over the person is not only disrespectful to the individual but also inefficient from a managerial standpoint. We aim to be a flat organization where leadership is encouraged across all medical teams.
We strive to make a qualitative change in leadership, particularly in attitudes towards task delegation. Previously, it was the norm for doctors to give orders while nurses and their assistants simply obeyed. Now, our whole team works in partnership, with each member taking responsibility at their level of competence. We aim to create a relationship where delegation is not about "giving orders" but about entrusting a task to a team member, who then completes it to the best of their ability and takes ownership of the outcome. Transparency is essential—we foster an atmosphere where staff don’t run away from problems but rather acknowledge and solve them.
Before starting this business, we—the shareholders of Addere—worked in Sweden. The Swedish nursing philosophy is one we deeply admire and aspire to implement. In addition, Swedish organizations are renowned for their flat structures, which we have found to be more efficient and economically stronger. This is absolutely best practice, both in terms of management and service quality.
We opened our first nursing facility three years ago. Since then, we have refined our nursing model, and more and more employees in Lithuania are trusting it. It is easier to work and make changes with a strong team.
Another very important reason for our expansion is the significant growth in demand for nursing services in Lithuania. We want to help as many people as possible, and we can no longer accommodate everyone who needs our services in our Trakai facility alone.
Our belief in what we do, the positive feedback from our clients, the growing waiting lists of people wanting to join us, and the trust we have in our team are what drive and motivate us. We are fully prepared for expansion.
Addere Care secured Silviahemmet certification earlier this year. Why was this important for your team? How does the Silviahemmet methodology differ from how care is typically delivered in Lithuania?
What we do, we aim to do well. We plan to dedicate one of our hospitals exclusively to dementia and Alzheimer’s care. It is therefore crucial for us to have the best team, with the right attitude, knowledge, and skills. Once again, we wanted to learn from the best. We have complete confidence in the nursing methodology developed by Silviahemmet, an organization founded by the Queen of Sweden, in collaboration with experts from one of Europe’s top hospitals, Karolinska University Hospital. We are delighted to be the first institution not only in Lithuania but also in Eastern Europe to receive Silviahemmet certification. It is a great honor for us, and it brings with it a responsibility to maintain and renew this certification every year.
When we care for people, we pay great attention to their psychological and spiritual needs. Pastoral care plays a very important role in our nursing homes, and we integrate it into our management practices. Interestingly, Silviahemmet's philosophy aligns closely with our chosen Christian approach to nursing. I believe this is a characteristic of old European culture.
Addere Care is not only the Main Partner of the Queen Silvia Nursing Award in Lithuania, but also active within the country's Health Tech Accelerator. What are your ambitions for geriatric and dementia care excellence in the country? How do you hope to see tech/innovation coming closer to care in the future?
We have entered a sector that we care deeply about and want to influence positively. As we progress, different improvements and innovations are emerging. We are developing ideas and inventions that help address various challenges faced by people in care. We have a cluster vision.
In our first year, we became a partner of the Queen Silvia Nursing Award in Lithuania. We were eager for Lithuanian nurses to have the opportunity to participate in this prestigious international award, to promote their leadership and ideas.
Moreover, we understand that it’s not enough to simply recognize ideas and reward their authors. To make a real impact, we need to implement these ideas. That’s why Addere is one of the founding members of Health Tech. The organization aims to make valuable public health data open, structured, and accessible. Lithuania aspires to become an attractive destination for medical technology development. I am personally involved in the Cardiology Data Collection and Systematization Working Group, which is currently preparing information on what data is most needed and for which studies.
Another very important Health Tech project is the health sector ideas accelerator, which helps prepare ideas for commercialization and develop business plans. We encourage all Queen Silvia Nursing Award finalists to participate in this accelerator. Those teams that win the accelerator are then placed in the Sand Box, where their ideas are evaluated by investors.
While we encourage Lithuanian nurses to generate and submit ideas, we also actively contribute ourselves. I am delighted that one of our ideas will soon come to fruition. In collaboration with scientists from Kaunas University of Technology, we are finalizing a food product that addresses the risk of dehydration and choking in people in care, while also helping them to get the necessary vitamins and minerals. These are attractive, tasty, hand-eaten gummies with water as the main ingredient. We are proud of the Lithuanian scientists who have made this a reality. The product is currently in the testing phase.
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