AKH & MedUni

Europe's largest Hospital and Medical University Vienna were the club's hosts for an unusual visit

A trip into the "belly" of the Vienna General Hospital (Allgemeines Krankenhaus Wien, AKH), led by Ing. Franz Strasser, Krankenhausmanagement und Betriebsführungsges.m.b.H. (VAMED-KMB), gave the trade delegates insights they had never seen before - like the hospital's central control room, the cooling centre, the automatic conveyor system and the waste suction control room. Afterwards, Vice-Rector for Research of the Medical University of Vienna, Prof.Dr. Markus Müller, gave a clear picture of the developments and challenges of Vienna's international teaching hospital.

The Medical University Vienna (MedUni) is not only the largest medical organisation in Austria, it is also one of the most important top-level research institutions in Europe and provides the AKH with all of its medical staff. About one third of Austria's research output comes from the MedUni. Examples of developments that have found their way into the media are the bionic hand (Otto Bock) and a specia cochlea implant (MedEl)

MedUni has developed into a highly modern research institution as part of the general hospital that covers an area of 40,000 m². The combined complex employs a staff of 5,000, of which 1,800 are researchers and 1,600 are medical doctors. Each year 100,000 patients are treated as inpatients in 31 university clinics, 48,000 operations are conducted and 1,5 million outpatients receive initial treatment in the day-clinics.

As part of their duties at the hospital, VAMED-KMB have to take care of 48 operating theatres, 2012 beds, 9.000 to 10.000 meals per day and the transporting of 90 to 120 tons of goods.  The hospital has an average electricity consumption  of 154.000 Mwh / year and 750.000m³ of water per year. The AKH is, in effect, a small cosmos of it's own, like a small city. To cover the programme the visit required most of the afternoon.

  
Fotocredit: MedUni Wien, Christian Houdek (No 1)