Accommodation
UMC Utrecht is building the hospital of the future: a place where the best care for our patients, a pleasant work environment for our employees, and an optimal training climate for our students will come together. Topics like sustainability, efficiency and flexibility are of course of the highest importance here. Our guiding principle is to accommodate the needs of the users of buildings and areas, such as patients, visitors, employees, students and cooperation partners.
Strategic development outlook for accommodation
Our strategic development outlook for accommodation focuses on various components, such as outside areas, public areas, outpatient clinics, clinics, offices, labs, and the renovation of the maternity center at Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital (WKZ).
We will be conducting these programs in six phases over the next fifteen years. That way we will remain flexible and can continue along the way to respond to societal changes and the changing expectations of users. During the execution process, we shall keep asking for input and continuously adapt our plans accordingly. During renovation, some inconvenience for patients, visitors and staff will be unavoidable. By means of phasing we will ensure that primary processes remain fully operational throughout the entire renovation. With this strategic development vision we are of course in line with the application of the Healthcare of tomorrow and the need for our healthcare, research and education that ensues from it.
Some of the highlights in terms of accommodation in 2022 were:
Opening of the MRI OR
In the fall of 2022 we opened the new intra-operative MRI operating room for children with brain tumors at Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital.
CT scanner at the new Emergency Care (SEH)
To be of even better assistance to patients who need emergency care, we have refurbished our Emergency Care unit (SEH). In October 2022 we were able to open the new Emergency Care unit . Thanks to the renovation of the Emergency Care unit, we now have a state-of-the-art unit where caregivers can give patients the best possible complex acute care.
The new Emergency Care unit is equipped with a CT scanner, with which we can diagnose patients even faster and safer and thereby ensure that that they receive the right care even quicker. What’s more, the CT scanner can be used for two trauma rooms. With the arrival of the CT scanner we are able to meet the amended requirements of the new Quality Framework for an Emergency Care Chain for a level 1 trauma center.
Renovation of the Hijmans van den Bergh building
The Hijmans van den Bergh building at UMC Utrecht houses many of the Medical Faculty’s education activities as well as our Education Center. Due to tighter safety requirements for floor construction in the building, the floors however need to be renovated first. In 2022 we started with the renovations that will take fifteen months in total.
In April 2022 we relocated all activities in the Heijmans van den Bergh building to various education premises and to the Administrative Building . The relocation went very well and both students and lecturers are satisfied with the premises and facilities. The return to the Heijmans van den Bergh building, both for education and staff, is scheduled for the summer vacation of 2023.
