VU University Medical Center Amsterdam ( nl, VU Medisch Centrum or VUmc) is the

university hospital A university hospital is an institution which combines the services of a hospital with the education of medical students and with medical research. These hospitals are typically affiliated with a medical school or university. The following i ...

affiliated with the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

. It is rated one of the best academic medical centers in the country in terms of patient care and research. It is located next to Amsterdam's A10 ringway in the southwestern part of the city, next to the campus of the Vrije Universiteit and close to

Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...

airport. On 30 October 2015, researchers at the VUmc Cancer Center Amsterdam reported developing a

blood test A blood test is a laboratory analysis performed on a blood sample that is usually extracted from a vein in the arm using a hypodermic needle, or via fingerprick. Multiple tests for specific blood components, such as a glucose test or a choles ...

that, from a single drop of blood, can diagnose

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

with a probability of 97%, and about 6-8% probability of a false diagnosis, in healthy patients. In October 2015 the VUmc got the first ''MRIdian'' system in Europe, currently the most advanced

radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Rad ...

system to treat tumors, because the system has a built-in

MRI scanner The physics of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) concerns fundamental physical considerations of MRI techniques and technological aspects of MRI devices. MRI is a medical imaging technique mostly used in radiology and nuclear medicine in order ...

to aim the radiation optimally.

History

VU University Medical Center Amsterdam was opened in 1964 as the Academic Hospital of the

(VU). This was made possible by the '' Vrouwen VU-hulp'' ('Women VU Assistance') charity, which was started in 1932 and aimed to support the Vrije Universiteit. Money was collected in the now iconic green tins with the likeness of

Abraham Kuyper Abraham Kuyper (; ; 29 October 1837 – 8 November 1920) was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands between 1901 and 1905, an influential neo-Calvinist theologian and a journalist. He established the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, which u ...

. These tins were distributed to families of the

Reformed Churches in the Netherlands {{Infobox Christian denomination , name = Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Dutch ''Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland'') , image = , caption = , main_classification = Protestant , orientation = Calvinist , polity = Presbyterianism , ...

, specifically to the housewives of those families. After the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the charity's goal became to raise money to start a medical school. It took about seven years before sufficient funds were raised, with the government footing 85 percent of the bill. Because of this, the idea that VUmc was funded by the ('little people') still exists today. Bos-2008

VU University Medical Center Amsterdam was created in 2001 by the merger of the Academic Hospital of VU with the medical school of VU, nowadays called VUmc School of Medical Sciences. In June 2013

Wouter Bos Wouter Jacob Bos (; (born 14 July 1963) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and businessman. Bos attended the Christian Gymnasium in Zeist from June 1975 until July 1980 and applied at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam i ...

was appointed as chairman of the board of directors of VU University Medical Center.

Cooperation and merger

VU University Medical Center Amsterdam is in the process of merging with the other university hospital of Amsterdam, the

Academic Medical Center An academic medical centre (AMC), variously also known as academic health science centre, academic health science system, or academic health science partnership, is an educational and healthcare institute formed by the grouping of a health profess ...

, which is affiliated with the

Universiteit van Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other b ...

, Amsterdam's other university.

Care

Tertiary care departments include advanced trauma care, pediatric and neonatal intensive care, cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery, infectious diseases and other departments. VUmc has the largest

Level I trauma center A trauma center (or trauma centre) is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major traumatic injuries such as falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds. A trauma center may also refer to an emergen ...

in the country and an

air medical services Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...

helicopter is affiliated with the hospital, covering three

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Special units include: *

Neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and pe ...

Cardiothoracic surgery Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of organs inside the thoracic cavity — generally treatment of conditions of the heart (heart disease), lungs ( lung disease), and other pleural or mediastinal str ...

* Neonatal and

pediatric surgery Pediatric surgery is a subspecialty of surgery involving the surgery of fetuses, infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. History Pediatric surgery arose in the middle of the 1879 century as the surgical care of birth defects requ ...

and

intensive care Intensive care medicine, also called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes pro ...

Pediatric oncology Childhood cancer is cancer in a child. About 80% of childhood cancer cases can be successfully treated thanks to modern medical treatments and optimal patient care. However, only about 10% of children diagnosed with cancer reside in high-income co ...

Sex reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and a ...

Research and education

The VUmc has one of the highest publications in the Netherlands and has a well known reputation worldwide for class leading research. VUmc has several special research units, some of which are: * VUmc Cancer Center Amsterdam (CCA) * Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam (NCA) * EMGO Research Institute * Institute for Cardiovascular Research (ICaR-VU) The VUmc also focuses on education and has different departments for their students. These are: * VUmc School of Medical Sciences (Faculty of Medicine) * VUmc Academy (coaching for medical students and based on e-learning) * VUmc Amstel Academy (department for educating Nurses) The

Center of Expertise on Gender Dysphoria The Center of Expertise on Gender Dysphoria (CEGD), or the Kennis- en Zorgcentrum Genderdysforie (KZcG), is a transgender clinic at the VU University Medical Center (VUMC) of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in Amsterdam, Netherlands Amsterd ...

(CEGD; or , KZcG), a

transgender clinic A gender identity clinic is a type of specialist clinic providing services relating to transgender health care. List of clinics and hospitals Asia Hong Kong * Gender Identity Clinic at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Shatin, New Territories ...

, is located at the VUmc.

Reputation

The medical center installed 35 high-grade security cameras and 35 microphones in the emergency department of the hospital for 16 days in January and February 2012 to film the TV program (based on the British program ''

24 Hours in A&E ''24 Hours in A&E'' is a British documentary programme, set in a teaching hospital in inner London. Initially it was filmed in King's College Hospital in Denmark Hill, Camberwell, but in the seventh series, the setting was changed to St George's ...

''.) After broadcasting the first episode the show was cancelled at the request of the VUmc. Initially, three patients brought charges against the hospital and the production company for breaking doctor-patient confidentiality, illegal wiretapping and breach of Dutch privacy laws. The charges were settled, and VUmc agreed to pay €30,000.

References

External links

VU University Medical Center
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Amsterdam Hospital buildings completed in 1966 Teaching hospitals in the Netherlands Medical Center