Historic milestone at the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein: With a ceremony and an open house, the Medical Center of the Future opened its doors on Friday, November 8, 2019, at Campus Lübeck. More than 3,000 guests and visitors, including 500 public figures, had the opportunity to gain an impression of the new central hospital building. Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Daniel Günther, together with Dr. Jens Scholz, CEO of the UKSH, and Lübeck Mayor Jan Lindenau, ceremoniously opened one of Europe's most modern medical centers.

The newly constructed seven-story building is the new center for maximum care at Campus Lübeck. The new building completes the existing central hospital and has simultaneously created a new infrastructure for the entire Lübeck Hospital. In order to be able to effectively diagnose and treat increasingly complex conditions, the disciplines that need to work together for patient care are in close proximity to each other in the new building.

"With the new building in Lübeck and the new central hospital in Kiel, the UKSH is now in an excellent position. This marks the beginning of a new era for university medicine in Schleswig-Holstein this year. With the master plan for the UKSH, we have created the basis for a high level of medical service provision in the future. We stand firmly behind our University Medical Center as a state," said Daniel Günther, Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein.

"With the outstanding new hospital building of the UKSH, Lübeck will continue to be a place for cutting-edge medicine and research. This is crucial for the provision of medical care for our citizens at the highest level and strengthens the successful cooperation of innovative science and industry in Lübeck," said Jan Lindenau, mayor of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck.

"Together with the patients and staff of the UKSH, I am delighted with the renovation of the UKSH," says Björn Engholm, former Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein. "The UKSH will set the standard throughout Germany for decades to come for people who are looking for help and healing here in Lübeck."

"We have successfully mastered a tremendous challenge with an outstanding team," said Dr. Jens Scholz. "After only four years, the vision of an interdisciplinary and digitized hospital is now a reality." Light-flooded architecture that supports recovery processes, with the shortest paths to diagnostics and therapy, innovative service technologies and a high level of comfort await the patients. Dr. Scholz thanked the staff of the UKSH for their tremendous dedication, the patients for their even greater encouragement and the companies involved in the construction for their high level of commitment, as well as the state of Schleswig-Holstein and the city of Lübeck.

The UKSH is the largest university hospital in northern Germany and the only maximum care hospital in Schleswig-Holstein. 

VAMED completes main university hospital building in Lübeck

After four years of construction VAMED has completed the new main building at University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) in Lübeck. Following the opening in August of the new main building at the UKSH’s other location, in Kiel, the modernization of Germany’s second-largest university hospital is now largely complete. In addition to the new construction and the comprehensive renovation of the two university hospital locations, the project includes their technical management through 2044. With a total volume of €1.7 billion, the UKSH modernization is currently the biggest public-private partnership project in Europe’s healthcare sector.

One UKSH – Two Campuses – One Architectural Style

The planning teams succeeded in making the locations of Kiel and Lübeck, which are 80 kilometers apart, look like as if they came from one mold and give the UKSH an unmistakable image. "Our cutting-edge medicine finally has the architecture and infrastructure that it deserves," said Dr. Scholz. "Our goal was to support the effectiveness of our medical services with an atmosphere in which patients feel comfortable." In both Kiel and Lübeck, the new hospital buildings are presented in a clearly structured, bright and friendly design, featuring gold accents. Brick-clad façade plinths fit harmoniously into the surrounding buildings and represent the northern German building tradition. The materials are durable and sustainable.

Patients, visitors and employees reach the spacious main lobby on the ground floor through the new forecourt and the new main entrance at Ratzeburger Allee in Lübeck. Covering an area of 440 square meters, it is designed as a patient "boulevard" with an information desk, self-check-in terminals, bistros and shops. From here, you can get to the eight normal wards and seven intensive care units as well as the outpatient departments and functional areas, including the outpatient surgery unit with four operating rooms. A new, clear mapping system enables easy orientation throughout the building. The concept of a light-flooded hospital continues right into the 246 patient rooms. Low-height parapets, designed this way purposely, allow the maximum possible amount of light and maximum views, even from the hospital beds. The rooms feature friendly, bright colors. Warm wood tones create a high level of comfort while maintaining the highest hygienic standards.

Functional Areas Are in Close Proximity to Each Other

The basis for the structural renovation of the UKSH is a medical structure concept that took into consideration analyses on the health development of the population through the coming decades. Forecasts and capacity calculations take demographic change and medical progress into account. The guiding principle of the University Medical Center of the Future is the highest possible efficiency in accordance with the best standards for patients and employees. In the new buildings, important health care functions are in close proximity to each other. This results in sizes and work flows that make sense medically and economically.

One example is the interdisciplinary emergency department, located on the ground floor of the new Lübeck building, which is in the immediate vicinity of the newly founded Minimally Invasive Center (MIC). The MIC is a state-of-the-art emergency patient care unit dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of heart and vascular diseases. They must be treated using minimally invasive angiography catheter procedures. Therefore, the specialist disciplines of cardiology, angiology, neuroradiology, radiology, electrophysiology and anesthesiology work together under one roof. The interdisciplinary emergency department is also directly connected to the central surgery unit, the intensive care units and the helicopter landing pad on the 2nd floor via elevator. The new interdisciplinary central surgery unit has 20 operating rooms, including two hybrid operating rooms with X-ray equipment. The modern medical equipment in the central surgery unit meet the highest demands. During a surgical procedure, additional experts from Campus Lübeck or Campus Kiel can be called in via a digital video system, or live images of an operating room can be transferred to a lecture hall so that students can learn from it. Innovations for Increased Comfort

The new buildings of the UKSH combine groundbreaking innovations and advantages for the patients and their families. The units now only have single and double rooms, and a new catering system with a diverse menu is now available. Pleasant waiting areas are available to family visitors wherever they have access.

In the new building, the UKSH deliberately focused on the possibilities for digitization in order to relieve doctors and nurses of routine work and contribute to increasing the success of treatment. Digital patient services also mean more comfort for patients. A new UKSH navigation app for iOS and Android directs users to their appointment location in the UKSH – even inside the hospital building. At self-check-in terminals in the reception areas of the hospital, patients can then log in and scan documents or consent forms. Returning patients can identify themselves with their health insurance card and receive a call number. First-time patients are recognized at the self-check-in terminal and routed to the central patient intake desk to provide their administrative data.

Digitization continues in the hospital room. Patients have access to TV, Internet, e-paper and movies via a bedside tablet PC. In addition, they can complete treatment-related questionnaires or a pain diary and participate in anonymous satisfaction surveys. Hospital staff is supported by bedside terminals during mobile consults to call up findings and discuss treatment with the patient. The UKSH is the first German hospital to offer a cashless electronic health care account free of charge and for life, which enables the exchange of data between doctors, departments or therapists. Each patient can conveniently access their data in the electronic archive from anywhere.

Many innovations take place in the background. The automated unit-dose system is already in operation. It guarantees that all medicines from the hospital pharmacy are individually assembled, packaged and delivered directly to the units. Through the system's connection to a prescription software program, it can check the medication plan for medication interactions. In the processing unit for medical devices, the UKSH relies on fully automated warehousing in sterilization – a system that has only been available in Denmark before now. Risk minimization is also important for location-based services, which allow patients to move freely in the hospital buildings, with permanent monitoring of their vital signs. In case of an emergency, the patient can be accurately located. This type of tracking is also used for the automated transport of goods or cleaning of unit beds.

The Move at Campus Lübeck

From November 21 to 24, 2019, 13 departments, including the interdisciplinary emergency department, will be moving into the new building during ongoing operation. The UKSH will be running duplicate operations during the weekend of the move. This will allow for patients to be treated in both the old and new buildings, and the interdisciplinary emergency department will be kept available without interruption. Moving a hospital of this size is a logistical challenge. For each department area, the complex processes were simulated during the move in theory and planned in detail. The medical and nursing staff had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the work processes in the new building in workshops and at already completed sample units. The relocation concept at Campus Kiel was already successful. The interdisciplinary emergency room moved there in April 2019, and in August 2019, 13 departments moved into the new central hospital building, also during ongoing operation.

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