AZ Groeninge is a large

teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...

, affiliated with the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

KU Leuven KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, l ...

Hospital network A hospital network is a public, non-profit or for-profit company or organization that provides two or more hospitals and other broad healthcare facilities and services. A hospital network may include hospitals in one or more regions within one o ...

, in

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...

West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...

, Belgium. The hospital is the result of a merger of four hospitals in Kortrijk and is in number of beds, in its current form, the fifth largest

hospital system A hospital network is a public, non-profit or for-profit company or organization that provides two or more hospitals and other broad healthcare facilities and services. A hospital network may include hospitals in one or more regions within one ...

in Belgium. The new 1000+ hospital bed facility at the Kennedylaan, opened in 2017, is one of the largest hospital sites in Belgium. In 2023 Newsweek ranked az groeninge 6th best hospital in Belgium and first non-academic hospita

History

In 2003, four hospitals in the Belgian city of

merged: Kliniek Maria's Voorzienigheid (founded in 1937), Onze-Lieve-Vrouwehospitaal (1211), Sint-Niklaasziekenhuis (1958) and Sint-Maartenziekenhuis (1955). This resulted in a single hospital with a non-profit status as it is a

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Administ ...

between the City of Kortrijk and the Boards of the former Christian hospitals. With the merger all specialties were effectively centralized at one campus. In 2005 the construction of one large hospital facility in the neighbourhood of "het Ei in Kortrijk" started. Between 2010 and 2016 the campuses of Sint-Niklaas, Sint-Maarten and Maria's Voorzienigheid moved into the new hospital. The historic campus of the Medieval Our Lady Hospital will remain open longer, to accommodate administrative services and prolonged-care units such as the palliative care unit, but the ultimate aim is to also relocate these services to the Kennedylaan.

Facts

AZ Groeninge has a history that dates back to the beginning of the 13th century and is one of the oldest hospitals in Belgium. It is a pluralistic hospital resulting from the merger of one public hospital and 3 private

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

hospitals. AZ Groeninge is in number of beds (1100 acute beds; 57 obstetric beds) the fifth largest hospital in the country (only the UZ of the

, the Grand Hôpital de Charleroi, the ZiekenhuisNetwerk Antwerpen and AZ Sint-Jan Brugge-Oostende AV are larger). However, the latter three are in fact

s (most services are not centralised at one campus). AZ Groeninge is a teaching hospital that accommodates training of medical and nursing students and residents and clinical fellows in various specialties. AZ Groeninge is a large private employer in the

Arrondissement of Kortrijk The Arrondissement of Kortrijk (; ) is one of the eight administrative arrondissements in the Province of West Flanders, Belgium. It is both an administrative and a judicial arrondissement. However, the Judicial Arrondissement of Kortrijk also c ...

and

Eurodistrict A eurodistrict is a European administrative entity that contains urban agglomerations which lie across the border between two or more states. A eurodistrict offers a program for cooperation and integration of the towns or communes which it compr ...

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

–

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

metropolitan area. As of 2009, it employed 1038 full-time en 1642 part-time people, 200+ of which are physicians. It is a non-profit organisation (VZW/

ASBL Laws regulating nonprofit organizations, nonprofit corporations, non-governmental organizations, and voluntary associations vary in different jurisdictions. Australia In Australia, nonprofit organizations include trade unions, charitable entities ...

). In 2009 AZ Groeninge was responsible for the education of 30 residents and fellows. It had 1,094 beds, 33,920 inpatient admissions a year, 2,020 births and had 38,838 emergency department visits in 2009.

Facilities and current operations

Before 2017 the hospital consisted of 4 hospital sites: Kennedylaan, Loofstraat, Burgemeester Vercruysselaan and Reepkaai. Since 2017 all acute operations were centralised in a single hospital site. This hospital site is one of the largest in the country. The Kennedylaan site is located close to the campuses of the Catholic University of Leuven Campus Kortrijk (

KULAK Kulak (; russian: кула́к, r=kulák, p=kʊˈlak, a=Ru-кулак.ogg; plural: кулаки́, ''kulakí'', 'fist' or 'tight-fisted'), also kurkul () or golchomag (, plural: ), was the term which was used to describe peasants who owned ove ...

) and VIVES University College. The hospital accommodates several specialized facilities and services such as the Kortrijk Cancer Centre, an accredited

OECI The Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) is an international non-profit organization with European Economic Interest Grouping status. It was created in 1979 to promote greater cooperation among European cancer centers and institutes. ...

-designated clinical cancer centre, robotic surgery (

da Vinci Surgical System The Da Vinci Surgical System is a robotic surgical system that uses a minimally invasive surgical approach. The system is manufactured by the company Intuitive Surgical. The system is used for prostatectomies, and increasingly for cardiac ...

Radiofrequency ablation Radiofrequency ablation (RFA), also called fulguration, is a medical procedure in which part of the electrical conduction system of the heart, tumor or other dysfunctional tissue is ablated using the heat generated from medium frequency alternat ...

, an Eusoma-accredited Breast Clinic, a Fertility center, a Radiotherapy unit (also offering intra-hepatic radiotherapy or

TheraSphere TheraSphere is a radiotherapy treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that consists of millions of microscopic, radioactive glass microspheres (20–30 micrometres in diameter) being infused into the arteries that feed liver tumors. These ...

treatment and

Intraoperative radiation therapy Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) is radiation therapy that is administered during surgery directly in the operating room (hence ''intraoperative''). Usually radiation therapy, therapeutic levels of radiation are delivered to the cancer, tu ...

or IORT), a Clinical Cancer Center with several multidisciplinary oncology clinics and access to

Hypothermia cap A hypothermia cap (also referred to as cold cap or cooling cap) is a therapeutic device used to cool the human scalp. Its most prominent medical applications are in preventing or reducing alopecia in chemotherapy, and for preventing cerebral palsy ...

s, 2

MRIs Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio wa ...

including one 3.0 tesla MRI, the West-Flanders

PET-CT Positron emission tomography–computed tomography (better known as PET-CT or PET/CT) is a nuclear medicine technique which combines, in a single gantry, a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner and an x-ray computed tomography (CT) scann ...

center, a clinical trials and research units that allow participation in many phases 1 to 4 clinical trials and with capacity to design clinical trials and ability to serve as national leading ethical committee. The Kortrijk Cancer Centre is a member of the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (

). In 2012 the Leuven

UZ Leuven Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven or University Hospitals Leuven, often shortened to UZ Leuven, is an academic hospital in Leuven, Belgium, associated with the university KU Leuven. It consists of three campuses as of 2022; Gasthuisberg, Pellenberg a ...

University Hospital KWS

Electronic medical record An electronic health record (EHR) is the systematized collection of patient and population electronically stored health information in a digital format. These records can be shared across different health care settings. Records are shared throu ...

system was implemented. The closest

NMBS french: Société nationale des chemins de fer belgesgerman: Nationale Gesellschaft der Belgischen Eisenbahnen , type = Statutory corporation , industry = Rail Transport , foundation = 1926 , founder = Government of ...

stop to the main campus is

Kortrijk railway station Kortrijk railway station ( nl, Station Kortrijk, french: Gare de Courtrai), officially Kortrijk, is the main railway station in Kortrijk, West Flanders, Belgium. The station was first inaugurated on 22 September 1839. With around 10,000 passenger ...

. The closest airports are

Kortrijk-Wevelgem International Airport Flanders International Airport, Flanders Airport or Kortrijk-Wevelgem International Airport is an airport located in the town of Wevelgem, West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium and partly also in the Bissegem section of the city of Kor ...

Lille Airport Lille Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport de Lille) is an airport located in Lesquin, south-southeast of Lille, a city in northern France. It is also known as Lille-Lesquin Airport or Lesquin Airport. Lille is the principal city of the Lille M ...

and

Brussels Airport Brussels Airport, nl, Luchthaven Brussel, vls, Vliegpling Brussel, german: Flughafen Brüssel is an international airport northeast of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In 2019, more than 26 million passengers arrived or departed at Bruss ...

. The closest international railway station is

Lille-Europe Lille-Europe station (French: ''Gare de Lille-Europe'') is a SNCF railway station in Lille, France, on the LGV Nord high-speed railway. The station is primarily used for international Eurostar and long-distance SNCF TGV services, although some h ...

. The

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

for Social Affairs of the City of Kortrijk (and former MEP), Philippe De Coene, serves currently as President of AZ Groeninge. Mrs. Inge Buyse succeeded Mr. Jan Deleu in 2016 as CEO of AZ Groeninge.

Affiliated institutions

AZ Groeninge is part of the Vlaams Ziekenhuisnetwerk van het Universitair Ziekenhuis van de K.U.Leuven. In 2008 an agreement was signed between the hospital, the Kortrijk University (Catholic University of Leuven Campus Kortrijk) and the University & University Hospital of Lille (

Université Lille Nord de France The Community of Universities and Institutions (COMUE) Lille Nord de France (formerly Université Lille Nord de France) was a French Groups of Universities and Institutions ( COMUE) spread over multiple campuses and centered in Lille (North - Hauts ...

) to stimulate collaborations within the Eurometropole Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai. There is also collaboration with VIVES University College and Ghent University (Hospital). The hospital participates actively in many clinical trials. Many physicians are members of collaborative groups such as

EORTC The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) is a unique pan-European non-profit clinical cancer research organisation established in 1962 operating as an international association under Belgium law. It develops, conduc ...

. It participates in regional managed care networks with neighbouring hospitals such as the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Lourdesziekenhuis in

Waregem Waregem (; vls, Woaregem), sometimes known as Waereghem, is a municipality and city located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality lies in the valley of the river Leie, between Kortrijk and Ghent. It is part of the arrondiss ...

, the Jan Ypermanziekenhuis in

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

, and the hospitals in

Mouscron Mouscron (; Dutch and vls, Moeskroen, ; Picard and Walloon: ''Moucron'') is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, along the border with the French city of Tourcoing, which is part of the Lille metropoli ...

, and the AZ Sint-Jan Brugge-Oostende AV in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

. Recently the E17 hospital network was founded and includes AZ Maria Middelares St Jozef (Gent), AZ OLV Loures (Waregem), St Jozef Kliniek (Izegem), St Vincentius (Deinze), AZ Glorieux (Ronse), AZ St Elisabeth (Zottegem) and AZ Groeninge (Kortrijk).

References

* Van Hospitaal tot az Groeninge: de geschiedenis van de ziekenzorg in Kortrijk; Johan J. Mattelaer; Uitgeverij Groeninghe in samenwerking met PANA, Kortrijk, 2009; /> * https://web.archive.org/web/20110706133009/http://www.azgroeninge.be/eCache/3383/Acta_Groeninge_12%2C_juni_2010.pdf * http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=VB3457GH * http://www.oeci.eu/MemberList.aspx

External links

AZ Groeninge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Az Groeninge Hospitals in Belgium Buildings and structures in Kortrijk Hospitals established in 2003 2003 establishments in Belgium