In the coming week, the court in Utrecht will consider whether the UMCG in Groningen and the Erasmus MC may continue with the preparations for concentration of pediatric heart surgery.
The UMC Utrecht, the LUMC in Leiden and the Amsterdam UMC have asked the judge to press the pause button in the file. Earlier this year, the (now caretaker) Minister of Health Ernst Kuipers (D66) decided that pediatric heart surgery should be concentrated in Rotterdam and Groningen and that Utrecht, Leiden and Amsterdam would lose this highly specialized care.
Bottom procedure
The UMCG and Erasmus MC have until October 2025 to complete this transition (together with the other centers). However, Utrecht, Leiden and Amsterdam immediately announced that they would challenge the minister’s decision with the administrative court. These proceedings on the merits are due in November.
Until then, Groningen and Rotterdam could simply continue with the preparatory work for the concentration. However, the centers that are in danger of losing pediatric heart surgery also want this preparatory work to be stopped before irreversible developments follow (even before the main procedure in November) and patients run away from their hospitals.
Hast
The judge announced on Tuesday that it would rule on Friday 21 July about whether or not to press the pause button. “We look forward to it with confidence”, says pediatrician Eduard Verhagen of the UMCG. The judge expects to rule on the merits this year. Verhagen: ,,There is a rush behind it and we are happy with that.”