Inaugurated on July 10, 1964, in a context of excellence where a highly prestigious academic quality, innovative research and care and assistance coexist in favor of patients. For over 50 years it has been an integral part of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and from August 1, 2015 the Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli has obtained the legal status of Fondazione. Such development, which is in full continuity with the Gemelli’s history, has ensured the autonomy necessary to manage its increasing complexity and face the challenges set by a health scenario in profound development.
The closely integrated relationship with the Medicine and Surgery School of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore remains intact, a fundamental characteristic in order to continue and guarantee the high quality of the medical service, the continuous research for treatment innovation and the essential nature of the Policlinico Universitario. The institutional work done by the Fondazione, a private non-profit organization formed by Istituto Toniolo and Università Cattolica, is the protection and promotion of human beings in a medical care environment, training, scientific research and of innovation in the biomedical and health, including both medical and translational, fields.
The Gemelli proves to be the place where scientific and technical skills, human sensitivity, Catholic ethics and values become a genuine commitment for excellent and affordable treatments available to the entire community. The value that is placed daily at the heart of the work done, since its beginning, is people’s integrity, their treatment needs, those expressed as well as unexpressed, providing an environment for relationships of humanity with patients and for all of their struggles and weaknesses.
An indication of this commitment – foundational and continuous – of paying attention to people as a whole, of the Christian basis on which the Gemelli was created and has grown to become a benchmark of excellence, is the presence and the work of the Pastoral Center that leads and follows the spiritual motivations of the Fondazione’s working community and responds to the patients’ spiritual treatment needs.
History
On June 22, 1962 the construction of the Policlinico, named after Father Agostino Gemelli, started and was officially inaugurated on July 10, 1964. The first functioning wards were those of Surgical Pathology and Medical Pathology, with a total of 70 hospital beds.
In 1977, The Lazio Region gave the Policlinico the title of Regional Hospital including 1,786 hospital beds and 55 cribs.
An important milestone in the history of the Policlinico was the opening of the new DEA (Emergency and Reception Department) in 2002, with the new Emergency Room, an innovative facility suitable for handling major emergencies.
On August 1, 2015, the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli officially took on the management of the Policlinico, acquiring the necessary autonomy in order to optimally face the challenges imposed by an evolving health scenario.
The inauguration of the Pediatric Emergency Room took place in January 2016. This facility is an integral part of the DEA and of the Gemelli Emergency Room and it extends over an area of 3,100 square meters and is the reference point not only for the city and Province of Rome, but also for the entire Lazio region and Italy, regarding all pediatric emergency cases.
In 2017, the Policlinico Gemelli became equipped with additional technological facilities such as the ART (Advanced Radiation Therapy) advanced Cancer Radiation Therapy Center and the Center for new Intensive Heart Surgery Therapy, in order to ensure patients increasingly innovative and efficient treatments.
At the end of 2017, thanks to the precious support from the Fondazione Roma, the CEMAD (Center for Digestive System Diseases) a new center for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of digestive system diseases was built.
In 2018, further confirmation of the the value and continuous improvement of the treatments offered was received with the legislation from the Minister of Health, Beatrice Lorenzin, who acknowledged the scientific nature of the Policlinico Gemelli through the fields of “Personalized Medicine” and “Innovative Biotechnologies”, becoming an Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) – Institution for Hospitalization and Treatment of Scientific Nature.
The future
The Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS is the place where scientific and technical skills, human sensitivity, Catholic ethics and values become a motivating commitment at the service of everyone, in order to guarantee excellent and affordable treatments to the entire community. Future commitments are:
- To qualify as the best Academic Medical Center in Italy and as one of the first 10 in Europe for medical quality and ability to bring research directly to the patient
- Assert itself as the center of absolute excellence in attracting patients and professional resources
- Commit itself to being a hospital that is at the service of everyone which treats people and not just their illnesses