Three new premises will be built to augment the reception capacity of the Holy See’s Paediatric Bambino Gesu Hospital: a new pavilion at the Palidoro headquarters, which will be able to house more than 70 patients as well as families, a palliative care center on via>Aurelia, to provide palliative care to children (the first of the center-south of Italy) and the new center in Rome on Villa Pamphili street.
The Director-General, Ruggiero Parrotto, announced the plans, at the presentation of the Hospital’s Clinical and Social Report on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, in the Auditorium of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls in Rome, reported “Vatican News” in Italian. The Bambino Gesu presented for the first time the results gathered of its health and scientific activity and those of the Social Report, indicating also the projects that will change the face of the Hospital in the coming years.
The Pope “Cares a Lot for the Bambino Gesu”
The Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, present at the event, wished to express his “greetings” and “those of Pope Francis who cares a lot for the Bambino Gesu. “There is no lack of occasions and gestures,” he explained, alluding to the Pope, “where he manifests his closeness and support for the Bambino Gesu, which he has so much at heart and considers a good instrument for the exercise of charity.
On July 13, 2018, L’Osservatore Romano reported excerpts of Cardinal Parolin’s address, who said that to be able to combine the scientific method, the sharing of knowledge and attention to persons, in particular, the neediest, is the fundamental characteristic of the Paediatric Hospital. The numerous activities of the Bambino Gesu and the spirit in which they are carried out are a model for all those who wish to engage in the service of the development of peoples, he added.
The Cardinal emphasized the care given to numerous patients that arrive for humanitarian reasons, the strong international engagement and the contribution made by the doctors, such as the offer of formation for colleagues of the less developed areas of the world.
He also expressed his satisfaction for the many “daring” projects of the Hospital, which call for trust in Providence but also a meticulous assessment of resources.
Scientific and Health Report
In the course of the presentation, Mariella Enoc, the Hospital’s President, stressed that it’s “an important moment, which enables us to restore the meaning and value of our work.”
The Hospital, which will celebrate its 150th anniversary on March 19, 2019, is in fact engaged in cooperation projects with nine countries around the world, recalled the President, and the children received and cared for, coming from areas in crisis, are more than one hundred. It’s in this context that the witness must be placed given by Professor Ibrahem Al-haded, Director of Alep’s University Hospital, who thanked the Bambino Gesu for its assistance to Syria.
The results of the clinical activities show an increase in admissions – over 28,000 – and of Out Patients services, which reach almost two million. In one year, 321 organ and tissue transplants of all types were carried out and care was given to 13,000 patients suffering from rare diseases. There has also been a growth of the scientific production, which reached the figure of 663 publications for 2,700 points of Impact Factor (IF), a value which measures the “weight.”
Some 3,500 families were sheltered during their reception, 2,000 were followed by the Social Services. There were also 359 transports of neonatal emergencies and 89 transports to the Vatican’s heliport, carried out in collaboration with the Holy See Governorate. The Report reflects the increase in surgical procedures and interventions, which numbered 29,778 (+ 10% in regard to the previous year). To these are added 3,012 Outpatients surgeries, almost double in regard to five years ago. As regards the Economic Report, in 2017 the Hospital produced 306.7 million euros of added value. The gross operating margin (EBITDA), which evidences the profitability of the operational management, was of 8.8 million euros.
Among the financing sources, the Hospital counts 214 million euros of receipts for health services; 43.5 million for the annual contribution on the part of the state for the specificity and the activity of the Hospital, 20 million for the financing of research and 3 million euros of donations.
Translation by Virginia M. Forrester
