The new Gelre Hospital opened its doors on 2 October 2010. This is the first Dutch hospital financed entirely by the hospital itself, instead of by the state, which was common until recently in the Netherlands. The hospital is smaller than the old building, and that meant that many logistical and efficiency issues had to be addressed.

In 2008, the Haga Hospital started a programme of innovation to improve working procedures. This programme consists of online services for patients, digitization of information flows, and a more patient-centred approach.
The Haga Hospital, a large hospital that occupies a number of sites in The Hague, also decided to group all care services in one facility. That meant moving the Juliana Children’s Hospital to the main location, which has also been renovated and enlarged with a new building.

Looking to Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing, one can say that although the knowledge of healthcare was very advanced in ancient times, it cannot be compared to our current possibilities and certainly not to those that lie ahead. In the same way, hospitals built in ancient times cannot be compared with those of today. On the other hand, people now and then don’t differ too much. In fact, they are more or less the same and have comparable needs.

The design for the new Martini Hospital takes the theme of flexibility a step further. That led to an IFD status (Industrial, Flexible and Demountable Building System) awarded by the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment and the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

A new hospital on a new site. Planetree and the Living Building Concept were the key themes in the design of this new 25,000-m2 hospital. The Planetree method helps in the creation of a pleasant environment…