Ovidius Clinical Hospital opens a new hospital dedicated to oncological and cardiovascular diseases

Ovidius Clinical Hospital, the largest private multidisciplinary hospital in the South-East of Romania, inaugurated yesterday the new hospital that integrates a Centre for Oncology and Radiotherapy, Interventional Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, as well as the first Siemens Healthineers Reference Centre in Romania. OCH represents the largest private investment in the field of health in the South-East of Romania, from 1989 until today, of 38 million euros, representing 12,000 square meters built and 154 beds.

Ovidius Clinical Hospital, the largest private multidisciplinary hospital in the South-East of Romania, was founded almost a decade ago by a group of doctors from Constanta and offers medical services to over 70,000 patients annually.

The new OCH Hospital, inaugurated at the beginning of April 2023, was completed in just 15 months and integrates a Centre for Oncology and Radiotherapy, Interventional Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, as well as the first Siemens Healthineers Reference Centre in Romania.

The Siemens Healthineers reference centre is the first in Romania and the tenth in Europe with artificial intelligence solutions, including assistance for remote scanning, it will offer the possibility of training and specialization for all physicians in Romania. The latest OCH investment in state-of-the-art medical technologies, implemented in Constanta for the first time, amounts to 8.1 million euros.

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„Under the slogan #BringPerformanceHome and starting from a planning approach based on patients’ needs, we decided to expand our activity in these medical areas that are so necessary for people”, declares Ş.L. Dr. Nicolae Ciufu, founder and Medical Director of OCH.

„We measure the state of health, we know it, we see it, but the solutions come from the local level, from where the patient is treated. And that’s what we built: a solution to our health problems. Now and here. And this has a big impact”, says Ș.L. Dr. Bogdan Pană, Director of Research and Development OCH.

The OCH Oncology and Radiotherapy Centre consists of a clinical department for medical oncology, with 32 beds, of which six are for palliative care, a radiotherapy department, a chemotherapy department, a palliative care and pain therapy department, day hospital and a ward of clinical studies. Here we will be able to treat at least 1,500 patients a year with radiotherapy and 3,500 with chemotherapy.

„This OCH centre dedicated to the oncology patient is at the same level as any other similar centre in Europe. At OCH, we are ready to fight cancer!” declares Prof. Dr. Laura Mazilu, primary oncologist and coordinator of the OCH Oncology Clinic.

The Radiotherapy team was trained at the Sf. Nectarie hospital in Craiova, the largest private hospital for Oncology and Radiotherapy in South-West Romania. Radiotherapists join a team of physicians who are passionate and dedicated to their work, who have patient care in organizational culture. The OCH collective assimilated the best specialists from Constanta and the Dobrogea area, but also physicians from Bucharest, Iasi, or Targu Mures.

Varian’s Halcyon radiation therapy system, the first in the region and the tenth nationally, is a modern treatment platform that delivers the therapeutic dose of radiation in a very short time. Thus, the patient is treated precisely, with an increased degree of physical and mental comfort. Additional information for the patients from Dobrogea is as follows: next year, the delivery and commissioning of Varian’s TrueBeam radiotherapy system is planned, which is built with human needs in mind, to treat cancer wherever it is found in the body, with very precise targeting, with minimal radiation doses.

“Halcyon delivers sophisticated and well-targeted cancer treatment with precision and accuracy, integrates patient comfort and relaxation by limiting noise and vibration. The system also facilitates the therapist’s monitoring and conversation with those receiving the treatment, it is simply the highest level of care for the oncological patient”, says Dr. Virgil Sivoglo, radiotherapist, returned to Romania after 20 years of medical activity at the Royal Stoke University Hospital from England.

The Centre for Interventional Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery OCH has 32 beds, an operating theatre with two operating rooms, one dedicated to cardiac surgery and one dedicated to interventional cardiology and cardiac surgery, the first hybrid room in the Dobrogea area, and 10 beds for Coronary Intensive Care, maximum level of competence.

OCH introduces for the first time in Romania the newest and best performing angiograph – Artis Icono Floor from Siemens Healthineers, which sets new standards of clinical performance. At the same time, the centre is equipped with an intravascular ultrasound system from Boston Scientific, the LivaNova extracorporeal circulation system for open heart operations and all the necessary equipment of a European-level centre. Over 1,800 patients can be treated annually in the OCH cardiology centre.

“The existing level of technology and organization at OCH is at the standards of clinics in Germany, and this is one of the reasons why I returned home”, points out Dr. Valentin Leica, cardiology specialist, coordinator of the cardiology department, with an experience of 12 years at Helios Klinik Jerichower Land in Germany.

“At OCH, we have the full range of resources for investigations and therapy, in order to perform all the cardiac and vascular interventions that I used to do in Germany,” states Dr. Sebastian Vasilescu, cardiology specialist, coordinator of the Interventional Cardiology Laboratory, with an experience for 10 years in clinics in Germany, such as St. Josefs-Hospital Cloppenburg.

OCH is known and recognized in the region for the exceptional services of the High-Performance Imaging Centre.

Complementary to the existing equipment, in the new hospital patients have the opportunity to perform scans with the 3 Tesla MRI system, Magnetom Lumina with BioMatrix technology, a computer tomograph, Somatom Go Top with 128 slices, and a Sequioa Ultrasound that offers precision diagnosis and which ensures superior comfort to the person being investigated. This equipment is interconnected through Syngo Virtual Cockpit, an artificial intelligence assisted system, the first installed by Siemens Healthnieers in the South-Eastern region of Romania.

OCH now has: 4 MR equipment, 2 CT, 2 RX, 1 Digital Mammograph and 18 ultrasound machines.

“With this new equipment, we will do all the imaging investigations, including those of the heart, both MRI and CT, which are very necessary for the patients”, states Dr. Carmen Ciufu, coordinating doctor of the OCH Imaging Centre.

The first Siemens Healthineers Reference Centre in Romania

„The inauguration of the first reference centre in Romania represents a key moment in the strategic partnership between Siemens Healthineers and OCH, as well as for the industry in which we operate. I would like to congratulate the entire OCH team for the high level of managerial and medical expertise, for a coherent implementation of Siemens Healthineers state-of-the-art solutions and technologies. We are involved in jointly developing educational programs, workshops, trainings for all specialists in the field and increasing patients’ access to diagnosis and state-of-the-art therapies”, declares Dr. Claudia Oanea, Managing Director of Siemens Healthenieers Romania.

BCR – financial supporter of the project

A special contribution to the implementation of this essential project for the Romanian medical system was that of the Banca Comerciala Romana, as the main financing partner and constant supporter of financial health initiatives. “We believe in and support projects that bring value to the community, and the expansion of Ovidius Clinical Hospital, together with the development of the two specialty medical centres, represents a real contribution to increasing access to excellent medical services, medical prevention and superior care. We are a company for financial health, and we know that physical health and financial health are the most important aspects of each of our lives. That’s why, for BCR, the financing of health services is a priority, and we are happy to be part of this project, which offers patients and medical staff a modern, quality experience, through facilities and top technologies“, declares Georgiana Alina Cernat, Head Department of Consumer Goods and Health, BCR.

OCH attracts physicians from the country and abroad

The new OCH Hospital creates more than 200 new jobs, the number of employees and collaborators of the hospital will increase from 500 today to 700 physicians, physicists, nurses, operators and other categories of staff by the end of 2023.

A large part of the staff required for the new hospital has already been employed for about 6-12 months, during which time they benefited from training at Klinik Jerichower Land in Germany for interventional cardiology and at St. Nectarie Hospital in Craiova for radiotherapy. The medical team has increased with physicians from Constanta, Bucharest and Iasi, as well as from Germany and England.

“The general conditions, the technology and the working environment are the reasons why doctors return home, and this is what we managed to build at OCH, to bring performance home“, says Adrian Mociu, OCH Executive Director.