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Future of the University of Freiburg - Bad Krozingen Heart Center secured for the long term

After intensive negotiations on the future of the University Heart Center Freiburg - Bad Krozingen (UHZ), the two shareholders, the Benedikt Kreutz Association (BKeV) and the Medical Center - University of Freiburg, signed the contracts on Tuesday, July 28, 2020. This means that the resolutions that were pre-formulated in a letter of intent in mid-May 2020 can now be put into practice.

The key points of the signed agreement are

The shareholder Medical Center - University of Freiburg takes over all shares held by Benedikt-Kreutz Rehabilitationszentrum Bad Krozingen e.V. in UHZ GmbH and the business operations of UHZ GmbH.

In return, the Medical Center - University of Freiburg undertakes to

• to issue an employment guarantee to the employees of UHZ GmbH;
• to guarantee the maintenance and continued operation of both sites of the previous UHZ GmbH, namely Freiburg and Bad Krozingen, and to maintain the Bad Krozingen site as a cardiovascular center of excellence;
• to expand research and teaching at the Bad Krozingen site and to strengthen training in the healthcare professions.

In recent years, the University Heart Center has built up a very good medical and scientific reputation as a cardiovascular center of excellence. It is also on the right track financially. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the UHZ found itself in financial difficulties, which necessitated far-reaching measures to secure the site and jobs in the long term.

As part of a process of strategic and organizational development of the UHZ, talks have been underway for some time to integrate the UHZ more closely into the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. Transferring both the shares of BKeV and the business operations to the University Medical Center was therefore a logical and mutually preferred solution.

Chief Medical Officer Prof. Dr. Frederik Wenz and Commercial Director Anja Simon of the Medical Center - University of Freiburg emphasize: "We must now seize this opportunity and further develop and strengthen the University Heart Center within the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. We can only do this as a unit if we bring together the best ideas. We will master the future well together if we grow together now in terms of personnel and culture."

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of BKeV and Mayor of Bad Krozingen, Volker Kieber, and his deputy and long-standing Managing Director of Herzzentrum Bad Krozingen, Bernhard Grotz, are delighted with the result, which was the result of long and constructive negotiations and represents a classic win-win situation for the site and BKeV. "We negotiated in the interests of the employees and secured the Bad Krozingen site as a cardiovascular focus. At the same time, we have created the economic basis for BKeV with the contract in order to support the diverse tasks and investments of the association in accordance with our articles of association and to be able to expand them for the future. Among other things, this means that we will continue to develop the Theresienklinik as one of the successful rehabilitation clinics in the fields of cardiology and orthopaedics. In the future, we will also invest even more in the training of healthcare professions, whether by maintaining and expanding our nursing care training center or by supporting the Center for Careers and Health. We will also continue to actively support the structural development of the Heart Center with our seat on the "Heart Center" advisory board, which is yet to be established."


Further information:

With more than 22,000 inpatients per year, 424 planned beds and around 1,700 employees, the University Heart Center Freiburg - Bad Krozingen (UHZ) is one of the largest cardiovascular centers in Germany. It occupies a prominent position in patient care, research and teaching in Germany and Europe. The University Heart Center has the knowledge carriers and equipment to research new treatment methods and bring them to patients quickly and responsibly. The research expertise is strengthened by the Institute for Experimental Cardiovascular Medicine (IEKM).

The UHZ emerged as a joint university heart center in 2012 from the merger of the Cardiovascular Center of the Medical Center - University of Freiburg and the Heart Center Bad Krozingen, whose sole sponsor until then was the Benedikt Kreutz Association (BKeV).

Caption: Prof. Dr. Frederik Wenz, Anja Simon, Volker Kieber and Bernhard Grotz at the signing of the contract (from left to right)
Image source: Medical Center - University of Freiburg