Partnerships with a nationwide impact
As a university medical center and with our specialist knowledge, healthcare, education and research we not only have a role to play in the region but countrywide. To optimize our national impact, we are strengthening our cooperation with strategic parters.
Emergency care and disaster response with the Ministry of Defense
In the scope of our collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Defense, we are continuing to give shape to our Complex Acute Care accelerator and disaster response. In 2023 we developed a plan of action to establish a joint knowledge center for civil-military trauma care. This center of expertise, the Civil Military Center of Expertise for Trauma Care (CETC) was officially established in January 2024 with a symposium . The purpose of the CETC is to contribute to reaching the target of zero avoidable deaths and reduce trauma-related invalidity to the minimum for the military as well as civilians.
In 2023, together with the Ministry of Defense, we carried out the annual major-incident drill in the Major Incidents Hospital . In April 2023 we opened up the Major Incidents Hospital for the victims of the rail disaster at Voorschoten .
Watch the video of the annual major incident-drill.
In August 2023 Minister Ollongren paid a working visit to the Major Incidents Hospital and in October the new Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defense, Mr Schuring, came on a visit . Various members of the Second Chamber from various parties also visited the Major Incidents Hospital and ED.
The Central Military Hospital (CMH) presented the new longterm strategy in 2023. The cooperation with UMC Utrecht, in addition to the cooperation in healthcare, now also materialized in the joint mobilization during a large-scale conflict and in the process of investigation. For the Institute of Hospitals for Defense Force Family Members (IDR ), after receiving their training at the Royal Military Academy (KAM) in Breda, the first OR assistants and anesthesia nurses were sworn in in 2023.
Care for children with cancer and congenital heart defects at Princess Máxima Center
UMC Utrecht cooperates intensively with the Princess Máxima Center, the national center for pediatric oncology, in the field of care, research and education. We are next-door neighbors at Utrecht Science Park and share facilities with each other. In 2023 we celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Princess Máxima Center .
Together with the Princess Máxima Center we provide medical care for instance to little Ukranian patients at the joint OR and Intensive Care unit. In 2023 we performed the first germ-cell tumor operation from our combined expertise center.
We also provide care for patients with a congenital heart defect . A lot had to be done in the past few years in this regard when the former Minister of Public health decided to concentrate heart surgery in the Netherlands and not in Utrecht. In November 2023 alas we stood before the court in proceedings to annul the decision to bring the authorization to perform interventions for congenital heart defects back to Utrecht. In January 2024 we received the good news that the judges had decided to annul the concentration decision. UMC Utrecht and the Princess Máxima Center underline the importance of cooperation, also when it comes to pediatric heart care. We have therefore entered a collaboration with Amsterdam UMC and Leids University Medical Center for patients with a congenital heart defect. We are working on an efficient alternative to concentrate this care. We are conducting discussions in this regard with the Ministry of Health and the other UMCs. UMC Groningen has in the meanwhile also joined this network. This enables us together to provide patients with a congenital heart defect with the care that it deserves.
In 2023 we also collaborated with the Princess Máxima Center in various national and international research consortia. One example is the Oncode-Accelerator project which is financed from the National Growth Fund.
EWUU: joint knowledge development and education
Together with Eindhoven University of Technology, Wageningen University & Research, and Utrecht Utrecht and UMC Utrecht, we form the EWUU alliance . The EWUU alliance build bridges across the borders of institutions so that knowledge can be combined and we can contribute jointly to social transitions.
Watch the video of the annual conference.
In 2023 we expanded the EWUU Lifelong Development offer for professionals with the interdisciplinary courses Optimizing nutrition and exercise for cancer patients and Dealing with a pandemic . We furthermore participated in various EWUU challenges such as: the Da Vinci program for budding ‘change-makers’, the Dutch Dairy Challenge for the transition to a sustainable dairy industry, the Inter-university Sustainability Challenge , and the Planetary Health and Climate Resilient Health Systems Challenge . The annual Bio-Tech-Med Nutrition Interdisciplinary Team Training (BITT) challenge also took place one again, and from UMC Utrecht we contributed to the development of a guide to help organizations within the EWUU Core Alliance to organize challenges.
Another initiative within the EWUU alliance is eduxchange.nl , a platform that enables students to follow courses easily at a partner establishment. In 2023 the number of courses offered through eduxchange.nl increased from about 300 to nearly 600.
Lastly in 2023 the EWUU allocated more seed funds to innovative and multidisciplinary research which gave shape to and stimulated it. The topic for the 2023 seed-fund call pertains to artificial intelligence (AI), with the aim to stimulate the development of AI to the benefit of society.
Alliance for Nutrition in Healthcare
In 2023 we joined the alliance for nutrition in healthcare (Voeding in de Zorg). The alliance makes scientific insights on nutrition and exercise personally applicable in healthcare. In more and more places, as at UMC Utrecht, the focus is on the prevention of health issues. For example through a healthy lifestyle and nutrition. This development is in line with the agreements in the Integral Healthcare Agreement (IZA) and contributes to the attainment of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3, ‘Good health and well-being’ . Gelderse Vallei Hospital, Wageningen University and Rijnstate already form part of the alliance.
