An editorial feature exploring Értéksziget’s story, accessible customer service and practical approach to choosing medical aids.
Értéksziget Medical Aids Shop and Online Store in Hungary
Please note: This page is in English, while our online shop, navigation and customer service primarily operate in Hungarian. Értéksziget’s principal service and delivery area is Hungary.
Behind every product is a real human situation.
Értéksziget is a disability-led Hungarian family business operating a specialist medical aids shop in Budapest, an online store serving customers throughout Hungary and a dedicated Home Care Knowledge Centre.
The company supports people and families dealing with home care, rehabilitation, disability, reduced mobility, continence care, wound care and other practical care situations. It combines carefully selected products with clear information, accessible customer service and practical decision support based on more than fifteen years of direct experience.
The people behind Értéksziget
Értéksziget is operated by FKI Nonprofit Ltd., a Hungarian non-profit limited liability company. Its founders and owners are Alexa Szabó and Zoltán József Szabó, a married couple who jointly manage the company. Alexa has a physical disability and Zoltán has a severe visual impairment. Together they hold five university degrees and the healthcare qualifications required for specialist medical aids retail in Hungary. Professional knowledge, critical thinking and precision shape their work, and every order is prepared personally by the founders.
For Alexa and Zoltán, the trust shown by more than 9,300 customer reviews is the most important recognition. Their work has also been reinforced by external awards, certifications and professional recognitions.
What we believe
Responsible guidance, human dignity, professional clarity and transparent business conduct shape every part of our work.
Értéksziget is a family business guided by Christian values. Its daily decisions are shaped by honesty, responsibility for others, respect for human dignity and a commitment to sound professional standards.
We favour dependable, well-designed products and make purchasing decisions with customer safety, usability and long-term value in mind. When we make a mistake, we acknowledge it and correct it as quickly as possible.
Responsible and transparent operation
Responsible business is not a separate communication theme at Értéksziget. It is reflected in product selection, customer service, supplier relationships, health communication, environmental considerations and the way the company responds when a product or service is not suitable for a customer.
Responsible guidance may sometimes mean recommending a different product, another provider or no purchase at all.
Professional credibility
Medical aids retail is a regulated field in Hungary. Értéksziget operates with the professional qualifications and regulatory authorisations required for specialist medical aids retail in Hungary. Its Budapest shop can dispense eligible prescribed medical aids under Hungary’s public health insurance reimbursement system.
Selected health-related materials are reviewed by doctors, nurses or other healthcare professionals. The editorial principles, review process and limits of the content are explained on the Hungarian-language Credibility and Responsibility page.
Professional credibility also requires clear limits. Értéksziget does not diagnose medical conditions, conduct medical examinations, prepare treatment plans or replace healthcare professionals.
How our values work in practice
Értéksziget puts its values into practice through four areas: recognition, knowledge, customer care and responsible operation.
Recognising value
The Értékteremt-Ő Programme highlights and supports healthcare teams whose work creates meaningful value in patient care, nursing, rehabilitation, education and patient safety.
Sharing practical knowledge
The Értéksziget Knowledge Centre connects nearly 300 edited resources with the real questions people and families ask about home care and medical aids.
Providing customer care
Értéksziget Customer Care combines attentive service, clear product information, practical ordering options and basic post-purchase assistance.
Operating responsibly
Customer trust, professional limits, measurable service quality, environmental considerations and transparent decisions are treated as parts of one operating model.
The purchase of a medical aid should be a clearer, more human and safer process. That is the standard the company aims to apply before, during and after every transaction.
Our mission:
Értéksziget aims to make purchasing medical aids a more human, transparent and safer process. With quality products, clear information and attentive service, we support people who care for themselves or a family member. As disabled founders, we know that behind a medical aid there is often a new life situation and uncertainty — which is why we work with expertise, human care and responsible operation.
Our motto:
Expertise and human care in support of caregiving.
The name Értéksziget can be rendered in English as “Island of Value”. The brand name remains unchanged in every language because it expresses the company’s purpose: to provide a reliable and human point of reference in the complex world of medical aids, home care and rehabilitation.
Our story
From an accessibility mission to a sustainable business
Alexa Szabó and Zoltán József Szabó founded FKI Nonprofit Ltd. on 3 December 2009, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Their original aim was to provide consultancy on communication and physical accessibility. The purpose was socially important, but there was not enough market demand to build a sustainable business around it.
The founders had to recognise a fundamental distinction: a worthwhile cause is not automatically a viable business model.
At the same time, people were contacting them in search of daily-living products, health-related aids and specialist equipment that was difficult or impossible to obtain locally. The Értéksziget online store was launched in 2011 in response to that practical demand.
Changing direction did not mean abandoning the original mission. It translated that mission into something people could use in everyday life: suitable products, understandable information and direct assistance.
From a living room to a nationwide retailer
The business began in the founders’ home. Products were stored among the furniture, orders were packed in the living room and parcels were carried to the local post office in shopping bags.
That small family operation developed into today’s Értéksziget Medical Aids Shop and Online Store — in Hungarian, Értéksziget gyógyászati segédeszköz bolt és webáruház.
Értéksziget now operates a specialist medical aids shop in Budapest, a nationwide online store and a dedicated Home Care Knowledge Centre for people and families facing home-care and rehabilitation situations.
The full story is available on the Hungarian-language About FKI Nonprofit Ltd. and Értéksziget page.
What does the name Értéksziget mean?
The name came from a family story. When Zoltán’s then five-year-old daughter, Annamária, tried to pronounce Mechwart liget, the name of a Budapest tram stop, she playfully said “Értéksziget”.
The Hungarian name consists of two words: érték, meaning value, and sziget, meaning island. Its closest English rendering is “Island of Value”. The brand name itself is not translated and remains Értéksziget in every language.
A concise Hungarian definition of the company is available on the What is Értéksziget? page.
A disability-led company without disability marketing
Értéksziget was not built by turning the founders’ disabilities into a marketing message. It was built through commercial performance, customer trust, professional development and consistent daily work.
Their lived experience does, however, influence how the company recognises barriers. These may include services that can only be accessed online, unclear health information, difficult-to-use websites, products that are technically suitable but impractical in everyday life, and purchasing processes designed around internal convenience rather than the customer.
Lived experience provides a valuable perspective. It does not replace product knowledge, listening to customers or maintaining a sustainable business model.
How Értéksziget works
Értéksziget at a glance
| Company established: | FKI Nonprofit Ltd. was founded in 2009. |
|---|---|
| Online store launched: | Értéksziget began operating in 2011. |
| Physical location: | Specialist medical aids shop in Budapest. |
| Service area: | Online store serving customers throughout Hungary. |
| Product range: | Approximately 1,200 carefully selected products. |
| Knowledge resources: | Nearly 300 edited home-care and medical-aid resources. |
| Customer reviews: | More than 9,300 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5. |
| External recognition: | More than ten awards, certifications and professional recognitions. |
Medical aids for real-life situations
Értéksziget focuses on situations in which illness, disability, ageing, recovery after surgery or rehabilitation creates a practical need for support. Its main fields are home care and patient care, continence care, wound care, pressure-injury prevention, personal hygiene and bathroom safety, orthopaedic supports, mobility and rehabilitation, and stoma-related skin care.
Customers often do not arrive with the name of a particular product. They describe a situation: making a bathroom safer, preparing for discharge from hospital, checking whether an aid will fit through a doorway or deciding whether a family member can lift, adjust and clean it.
A shower chair may be clinically suitable but too wide for the bathroom. A rollator may provide good support but be too heavy to lift into a car. A pressure-relieving mattress may appear appropriate but be incompatible with the existing bed.
Responsible product selection must therefore consider more than technical specifications. The person’s functional abilities, home environment, daily routine, available support and conditions of safe use all matter.
Értéksziget within the Hungarian medical aids system
Medical aids retail is a regulated field in Hungary. Értéksziget operates as a specialist medical aids retailer with a verifiable professional and regulatory background. Its Budapest shop can dispense eligible prescribed medical aids under Hungary’s public health insurance reimbursement system.
A reimbursed product may meet the relevant medical and funding criteria, while a privately purchased alternative may be lighter, easier to use or better suited to the person’s home.
Értéksziget does not override clinical decisions. Its role is to explain product categories, relevant differences and practical factors clearly enough for customers and families to understand the available options. The final choice remains with the customer and their family, in consultation with the relevant healthcare professional where medical assessment is required.
Accessible customer service through genuine choice
Értéksziget began as an online store, but the founders quickly recognised that not every customer could or wanted to complete the entire purchasing process online. Registration, online payment and delivery selection can create barriers for older people, blind or partially sighted customers, and people with limited digital confidence.
Customers can contact Értéksziget and place orders through the online store, by telephone, by email, through webchat or in the specialist shop in Budapest. Approximately one in ten orders is still placed by telephone.
Accessibility is not treated as a single technical feature. It means giving people more than one workable route to the same service, rather than forcing everyone through the process that is cheapest or fastest for the retailer.
Customer Care beyond the transaction
Értéksziget Customer Care defines the service standard applied before, during and after a purchase. It is not a separate subscription, membership scheme or paid programme.
It combines attentive customer service, clear product information, practical ordering options, personal attention to individual circumstances, reliable administration and basic post-purchase assistance.
The aim is to make buying a medical aid less impersonal, uncertain and difficult to navigate, while remaining clear that retail support does not replace personalised professional assessment or healthcare advice.
The Értéksziget Knowledge Centre
A medical aid is often not enough on its own. The user and their family may also need to understand what the product is designed to do, which factors should guide the choice, how it can be used safely, what its limitations are and when professional healthcare advice is necessary.
The Értéksziget Knowledge Centre brings together nearly 300 edited resources relating to home care, patient care, rehabilitation and the practical use of medical aids.
Starting with real questions
The Knowledge Centre is not organised solely around clinical terminology or product classifications. It begins with questions such as why a relative is leaking overnight, how standing up can be made safer, what will be needed before discharge from hospital or how skin damage can be prevented during prolonged bed rest.
The content connects those questions to relevant background information, practical considerations, possible product types and clear professional boundaries.
Clear professional boundaries
Maintaining clear boundaries is a core part of responsible health communication.
Értéksziget does not:
- diagnose medical conditions;
- conduct medical examinations;
- prepare treatment plans;
- prescribe treatment;
- replace healthcare professionals.
Its role is to:
- retail medical aids responsibly;
- explain differences between product types;
- provide practical selection and usage information;
- support better-informed purchasing decisions;
- identify when professional advice is required.
What Értéksziget has become
What began as an accessibility initiative has developed, through the recognition of a real unmet need and more than fifteen years of consistent work, into a specialist medical aids shop, a nationwide online retailer, a dedicated Home Care Knowledge Centre and a disability-led Hungarian family business.
Behind every product is a real human situation.
Recognition and media
Trust measured through customer experience
Értéksziget has an average customer rating of 4.9 out of 5, based on more than 9,300 reviews.
In a field involving health, dignity, personal care and unfamiliar products, trust depends on accuracy, discretion, reliable administration and understandable communication.
The founders do not treat the rating as a promotional number alone. It creates an obligation to maintain the standard of service customers have come to expect. Customer feedback is available on the Hungarian-language Customer Reviews page.
Awards, certifications and professional recognition
Értéksziget and FKI Nonprofit Ltd. have received more than ten external business, consumer-protection, professional and social-impact awards, certifications and recognitions.
Selected examples include the 2026 Good Practice recognition, the 2025 Trusted Healthcare Content certification, the 2025 Green Certification, the 2023 MagyarBrands Innovative Brand recognition, the 2021 Bisnode AAA rating, Consumer-Friendly Business recognitions and Disability-Friendly Workplace recognitions.
Awards do not replace daily performance. They provide external evidence that the company’s stated principles are reflected in its operations. The complete list is available on the Awards, Certifications and Trademarks page.
Értékteremt-Ő: responsible business in healthcare
The Értékteremt-Ő Programme is Értéksziget’s professional recognition and community-support initiative. It highlights healthcare teams and professional communities whose work creates meaningful human value in patient care, nursing, rehabilitation, education and patient safety.
The programme combines Értékteremt-Ő Recognition, which makes responsible and person-centred work more visible, with Értékteremt-Ő Support, which provides targeted equipment or other practical assistance linked to a real care need.
In 2026, the programme recognised the Dietetic Service of the Rehabilitation Clinic of Semmelweis University. It has also provided targeted equipment support to Hungarian hospital departments.
The programme is not a ranking system or a clinical certification. It is a long-term commitment to return part of the trust received from customers to healthcare communities whose essential work often receives limited public recognition.
International media coverage
Értéksziget has been featured in international publications covering disability, healthcare and older people. Coverage has focused on disability-led entrepreneurship, responsible business, the transition from hospital care to home care, safer selection of medical aids, family education, accessible customer service and independent living.
An editorial profile of the founders, the disability-led operating model and the development of the Knowledge Centre.
A professional article examining the gap between institutional healthcare, medical-aid selection and everyday family care.
A French-language article presenting Értéksziget as a structured Hungarian approach to home care and patient safety.
An editorial feature presenting the founders’ story and Értéksziget’s commitment to responsible business and social impact.
Sponsored international health content
The Romanian medical portal ROmedic published the clearly labelled sponsored health guide Siguranța pacientului la domiciliu nu depinde de un singur dispozitiv. It explains why patient safety at home cannot depend on a single product and outlines the functional, environmental and caregiving factors that should be considered when selecting an aid.
A wider chronological record of Hungarian and international coverage is available on the Értéksziget Media Coverage page.
ÉRTÉKSZIGET – expertise and human care. Home care ● Patient care ● Rehabilitation.