Minister Kuipers of Health will probably have to make a decision whether the UMCG in Groningen will retain the pediatric heart surgery department.
Two of the four current centers for pediatric heart surgery have to close. The Dutch Federation of University Medical Centers (NFU) was given the opportunity to make a proposal to the minister as to which centers should remain open. The advice is not forthcoming because the hospitals do not come to a joint position on which two centers should be maintained.
The minister had given the Federation until the middle of this month to come up with an advice. They have sent a letter to the minister stating that no unanimous advice has been formed. This puts the ball back in the Minister’s court
The hospitals say that they do not have a good idea of the actual effects on other care. Kuipers and his predecessor Hugo de Jonge previously expressed a preference for keeping the centers in Rotterdam and Utrecht open. Groningen and Leiden should close.