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Heidelberg shall get a new heart centre


A fully digitized heart center is to be built at the Heidelberg Medical Campus, where the departments of cardiac medicine and a new research institute will work together under one roof. | © Heidelberg University Hospital


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If everything goes optimally, the new heart centre at Heidelberg University Hospital could go into operation as early as 2029. The state of Baden-Württemberg supports the construction project and, on Tuesday, October 25, declared its support for the importance of the planned new building in a cabinet resolution. In addition to state funding and funds from the university hospital, 129 million euros from the Dietmar Hopp Foundation and the Klaus Tschira Foundation will also flow into the heart centre.

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The new building will house the clinics for cardiology, cardiac surgery, pediatric cardiology and pediatric cardiac surgery, and the "Informatics for Life" research institute. It is planned as a fully digitized hospital that will be scientifically monitored. For the DZHK site Heidelberg/Mannheim, this means a strengthening as a cardiological science centre.

Professor Dr. Ingo Autenrieth, Executive Medical Director of Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD), considers the new heart centre with the "Informatics for Life" research institute a significant step for the Heidelberg Medical Campus. "The new building will unite state-of-the-art interdisciplinary patient care, top international research and transfer under one roof and enable next-generation digital medicine. We are very pleased to be able to take further planning steps now."

A comprehensive digital infrastructure is planned to use all the data collected for better individualization and precision in cardiac medicine. The new building envisages an industry-on-campus concept for the Informatics for Life research institute. So innovation partnerships with industry will be established to accelerate the development of new therapies and products.

With the decision in principle by the state government, there is renewed momentum for the construction project, which was originally scheduled for completion in 2024.

Based on budget-ready construction planning by the UKHD, the state will work with the project partners to develop the overall financing concept. The aim is to accelerate implementation. Thus - under optimal conditions - the heart centre could operate in 2029.

Source: Press release of the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts Baden-Württemberg