Siemens Consortium to Construct Particle Therapy Center at the University Clinic of Schleswig-Holstein
19 March 2008 - 3:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Largest Public Private Partnership Project in German Healthcare
MALVERN, Pa., March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Siemens Healthcare
(http://www.siemens.com/healthcare) announces that the University
Clinic of Schleswig-Holstein (UC S-H) commissioned a consortium of
bidders, including Siemens, Bilfinger Berger and HSG Technischer
Service, with the construction and operation of the first particle
therapy center (PTC) in Northern Germany. With overall costs of
approximately 250 million euros, this represents the largest public
private partnership project (PPP) ever launched in the German
healthcare sector. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO ) As a
competence center for tumor diseases, the PTC will be opening up
new treatment possibilities for cancer therapy starting in 2012. In
addition to Northern Germany, the center is intended to serve the
entire Southern Scandinavian region. In its final stage of
completion, the facility's three treatment rooms will be capable of
treating approximately 3,000 patients with particles per year. The
contract concluded between the consortium of bidders and the UC S-H
includes the financing, construction, technical operation, and
maintenance of the particle therapy facility in a public private
partnership over a period of 25 years. To implement this project,
the sponsors, Siemens Project Ventures and Bilfinger Berger Project
Investments, established a project company which will be refinanced
via an international group of banks. In addition to the facilities
for applying particle therapy (PT), the PTC will also include a
department for conventional radiation therapy. Conventional
radiation therapy is planned to begin at the end of 2011, and the
PT facility should be started up at the beginning of 2012. "The
Kiel PTC represents a milestone for medical engineering solutions
and partnership models in oncology. The Competence Center for
Radiotherapeutic Oncology in Kiel will set the trend for additional
particle therapy centers in Europe and the United States," said
Prof. Dr. Erich R. Reinhardt, CEO of the Siemens Healthcare Sector.
Siemens will perform the planning and construction of the particle
therapy system, supply medical engineering services for medical
diagnostics to information technology and carry out the technical
service and operation of the medical engineering systems. Bilfinger
Berger Hochbau will be responsible for the turnkey construction of
the center. The Hamburg branch will complete the building with four
aboveground stories and two underground stories within 24 months.
For this project, Bilfinger Berger can rely on their expertise
gained with projects for the healthcare sector. HSG will be
responsible for the technical and infrastructural building
management, including maintenance and reinvestment of the technical
and structural facilities and the outdoor area. Furthermore, HSG
will ensure the required power, heat, and water quantities for the
building with the exception of the medical facilities. In
cooperation with Bilfinger Berger Project Investments, Siemens will
also bring its expertise in infrastructure projects into the
partnership via the Siemens Project Ventures GmbH (SPV). SPV and
Bilfinger Berger Project Investment will each contribute 50 percent
of the required equity capital. "The participation of private
financing partners plays a decisive role in the implementation of
complex public infrastructure projects," said Wolfgang Bischoff,
Managing Directory of Siemens Project Ventures GmbH. "This type of
PPP solution is increasingly becoming the 'standard model' for
general cooperation between the public and private sectors, and not
just in healthcare." With this project, Bilfinger Berger is
extending its private-enterprise operator business to include the
German healthcare sector. The company will contribute its extensive
experience in financing, construction, and building operation to
the Kiel project. In particle therapy, protons or carbon ions are
accelerated to a very high speed by an accelerator system and then
applied precisely to the target tissue. Calculation and control
with high precision enable more accurate irradiation of tumors than
with previous techniques, while avoiding unnecessary treatment of
the surrounding healthy tissue. Due to its accuracy, this technique
is especially suited for types of cancer which are difficult to
access or located close to organs at risk (e.g., tumors located at
the base of the skull or brain tumors). Other applications include
soft tissue sarcomas and prostate carcinomas surrounded by
sensitive tissue. Approximately 50,000 patients have already been
treated with particles world-wide. Of these, more than 3,000 have
been treated with carbon ions. Only a combined system which also
enables the use of various ion types, in addition to protons, can
meet today's requirements for the efficient treatment of abroad
range of tumors. About Siemens Healthcare Siemens Healthcare is one
of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry. The
company is a renowned medical solutions provider with core
competence and innovative strength in diagnostic and therapeutic
technologies as well as in knowledge engineering, including
information technology and system integration. With its laboratory
diagnostics acquisitions, Siemens Healthcare is the first fully
integrated diagnostics company, bringing together imaging and lab
diagnostics, therapy, and healthcare information technology
solutions, supplemented by consulting and support services. Siemens
Healthcare delivers solutions across the entire continuum of care -
from prevention and early detection, to diagnosis, therapy and
care. The company employs more than 49,000 people worldwide and
operates in 130 countries. In the fiscal year 2007 (Sept. 30),
Siemens Healthcare reported sales of euro 9.85 billion, orders of
euro 10.27 billion, and group profit of euro 1.32 billion. Further
information can be found by visiting
http://www.siemens.com/healthcare.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Siemens Healthcare CONTACT:
Tom Schaffner, +1-610-448-1477, Web site:
http://www.siemens.com/healthcare
Copyright