Wir überwinden Grenzen

Building shell erected in just six months / Unique facility in Baden-Württemberg / Radiological Intervention Center becomes central point of contact for outpatients, inpatients and emergency patients

The Medical Center - University of Freiburg celebrated the topping-out ceremony for the Radiological Intervention Center (RIZ) on Thursday, 13 July 2023. The RIZ is expected to open its doors in spring 2024. This will further expand care for patients requiring outpatient, minimally invasive procedures, as well as for emergency patients and those with complex medical conditions. Patients with cancer or vascular changes, such as children with congenital vascular malformations, will benefit from the new options.

The shell of the building with 460 square meters of floor space was completed in just six months, with the total investment of 8.7 million euros being borne by the hospital. The three operating theaters will be equipped with the latest imaging technology and will allow minimally invasive treatments to be carried out with maximum safety.

"When people sometimes say 'Build quickly and well: That's no longer possible in Germany', I can now say: Yes, you just have to let us do it. It's a pleasure to see this building grow upwards," emphasized Prof. Dr. Frederik Wenz, Chief Medical Officer of the Medical Center - University of Freiburg at the topping-out ceremony. The overall project planning was carried out by the hospital's own Construction and Development Planning department. "Many thanks to everyone involved who worked tirelessly to make the Radiological Intervention Center a reality," said Wenz.

Unique in Baden-Württemberg

The Radiological Intervention Center is located in the immediate vicinity of the Medical and Surgical Clinic as well as the intensive care units and emergency center. The center will be headed by Prof. Dr. Wibke Uller, Head of Interventional Radiology in the Department of Radiology (Medical Director: Prof. Dr. Fabian Bamberg) at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. Such a facility will be unique in Baden-Württemberg.

Of the three planned intervention units, two will contain a modern angiography system. One unit will be equipped with a mobile computer tomography (CT) scanner that can be moved between the treatment rooms. Together with the angiography system, this will create an angiography-CT hybrid system that will allow physicians to use both devices in combination during an intervention.

At the same time, the Radiological Intervention Center represents a significant step in the outpatientization of services at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. In future, minimally invasive procedures can be increasingly offered for many clinical pictures, thereby avoiding or supplementing complex operations. "This gives patients the quality of an inpatient stay and allows them to go home again in the evening," says Uller. At the same time, by avoiding lengthy inpatient stays, a more sustainable use of time, personnel and energy in the healthcare system is achieved.

Captions:

Image 1: Those responsible at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg are delighted with the rapid construction progress: From left to right: Prof. Dr. Fabian Bamberg, Medical Director of the Department of Radiology, Karl-Heinz Gilgin, Head of Construction and Development Planning, Prof. Dr. Frederik Wenz, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Prof. Dr. Wibke Uller, Head of the Interventional Radiology Center.
Image 2: The shell of the Radiological Intervention Center was completed in just six months.
Image 3: The Radiological Intervention Center will be a central point of contact for patients.

Image source: Medical Center - University of Freiburg