The Federation of Luxembourg Hospitals (FHL) brings together all of Luxembourg’s hospitals, all of which are funded under a common model. The association has several departments, including the procurement unit, which is dedicated to centralized purchasing and joint public procurement.
In addition to this mission, the FHL is also involved in negotiating the sector’s collective bargaining agreement, the framework funding agreement with the National Health Fund, the standard accreditation contract with physicians, as well as in areas such as quality, medical physics, and occupational health.
The procurement unit, composed of six staff members, coordinates joint public procurement processes in the areas of pharmaceuticals and sterile medical devices, as well as other service and equipment contracts. Its operations are based on a highly structured organization, where planning, workload distribution, and activity monitoring are essential.
Luc Waisse, Procurement Lawyer and Coordinator of the Procurement Unit
“I am the manager of the Procurement Unit. We are a team of six people, consisting of legal professionals and a hospital pharmacist (project managers) as well as assistants specializing in public procurement.
Originally, I had a legal background myself, but today I also work on public procurement projects and in a coordinating role. I’m responsible for organizing the department, assigning tasks, monitoring activities, and, more broadly, managing projects.
When certain situations involve more sensitive issues, particularly the risk of litigation or specific questions, the project managers consult with me. My role also involves ensuring that workloads align with staff availability, which is, in fact, one of the main reasons we turned to Gouti in the first place.”
Laura Grenoux, Administrative Assistant and Key User
“I’ve been an assistant at the FHL for five years. I support Luc in the adoption, deployment, and use of Gouti within our team.
I’m also one of the key users of the tool in the contracts unit. I help the teams with best practices and keeping track of updates. Currently, I work mainly on contracts related to medications, but there are other segments as well, particularly those involving sterile medical devices.”
Luc
“Before Gouti, we used Excel, entering time data into separate files and setting reminders via Outlook. We had also tried Microsoft Project, but the tool proved too complex to maintain over the long term.
So we were looking for a solution capable of covering the entire project management process, not just planning or document management.
Gouti provided us with a comprehensive approach, integrating the various stages of project management with a truly methodical framework.”
Luc
“We manage all activities of the procurement unit, including the processes and procedures for public procurement related to pharmaceuticals, sterile medical devices, as well as service and equipment contracts.”
Luc
“We use Gouti primarily for activity planning, as well as for task and workload management.
First, we structured our projects to gain a multi-year view of the necessary resources. Following this approach, we recently finalized our project outlook for 2027–2028, incorporating workload estimates by role throughout the entire project duration to anticipate needs, particularly budgetary ones.
Then, when projects get underway, the project manager—whether a lawyer or a pharmacist—creates a detailed list of tasks, allocates workloads, and uses similar projects already completed as a template. We also use Excel exports to retrieve existing data and speed up the setup process. ”
Laura
“For me, the tool’s main benefit is that it provides an overview of the project and lets me know exactly where we stand in the process.
Recently, I’ve had to take over certain contracts I wasn’t used to working on, and the fact that projects are updated in Gouti allows me to immediately view the necessary information and their progress.”
Luc
“The main benefit is the comprehensive view of the portfolio and long-term planning.
We really operate on a multi-year business planning approach, with projected project workloads so we can determine, over a given period, what resources will be needed. This also helps us with budgeting.
Then, once projects get underway, we shift to a more granular approach to workload management and task allocation.
Another key benefit is the use of timesheets, which allows us to align projected workloads with actual hours worked. ”
Laura
“For me, the main benefit is centralization.
Everything is consolidated in one place: tasks, actions, progress, and milestones. Even though we’re not yet using all the features, it’s already clearly improving tracking and communication within the team.”
Luc
“What’s most important to me are the to-do lists. They’re really the foundation of how everything works, along with everything associated with them. They give us a Gantt-chart-style view of all our projects, and with the portfolio features, we get a very comprehensive view of our activity over time. That’s really the heart of the tool and of our needs.”
Laura
“For me, it’s mainly the workloads. That’s what keeps us busiest on a daily basis and what allows us to track activity and project progress in a concrete way.”
Luc
“The integration took place gradually.
Laura and I were part of the small committee that helped identify and select the tool alongside the FHL’s former Project Management Officer. We were then the first to receive training, before gradually rolling out the tool to other users.
At first, we took the time to define how we would use Gouti, particularly the level of detail to include in task lists in relation to our business processes. Since the public procurement process is highly standardized and chronological, we had to find the right level of granularity.”
Laura
“For us, the integration also took place gradually, with a real increase in proficiency over time.
At first, communication was very informal and verbal. Then Gouti allowed us to centralize information and gradually structure project tracking.
Even though usage hasn’t fully stabilized yet, we’re already seeing a real improvement in project visibility and tracking.”
Luc
“Adoption varied among users at the FHL. The markets team uses Gouti daily, particularly for time tracking, while others use it much less frequently depending on their roles.
In our team, it has become central to our work. We tested several organizational approaches, including project templates, but ultimately opted to reuse existing projects and Excel exports, which proved easier to manage.
Today, we’ve established regular follow-up meetings to keep projects up to date, even though the process is still evolving.”
Laura
“The support team is very responsive. When we encounter a problem, a simple email is often enough to get a quick response. If necessary, a meeting can be arranged to discuss the issue further.”
Luc
“We’re satisfied with the support. Communication is prompt, and the responses we receive are comprehensive and tailored to our needs.
For example, when we had a specific issue related to deleting data from timesheets for GDPR compliance, we were able to quickly schedule a meeting and find a suitable technical solution.
We also appreciate the quality of our personal interactions with the team and the close relationship we’ve built.”
Laura
“Useful, organized, simple.”
Luc
“Versatile, feature-rich, user-friendly.”
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