Berufsgenossenschaftliches Universitätsklinikum Bergmannsheil


The Berufsgenossenschaftliches Universitätsklinikum Bergmannsheil, full German name "Berufsgenossenschaftliches Universitätsklinikum Bergmannsheil GmbH", also referred to as "Bergmannsheil", formerly known as "Bergbau-Berufsgenossenschaftliche Krankenanstalten Bergmannsheil", is a tertiary teaching hospital in Bochum. It is a hospital of the Ruhr-University Bochum and part of the University Hospitals of the Ruhr-University of Bochum.
The Bergmannsheil is the world's oldest and also the largest emergency hospital.

History

The first buildings of the Bergmannsheil were erected in 1888 in order to provide medical care for injured miners.
Over the decades additional departments and clinics were added, before the Bergmannsheil became a university hospital of the Ruhr University in 1977.
In 2007, the Bergmannsheil was privatized in form of a GmbH.

Fire disaster on September 30th, 2016

In the night from September 29 to September 30, 2016 a fire broke out in a room on the sixth floor of building 1. The fire spread quickly over the entire ward and two adjacent storeys and continued to burn for several hours. The roof was completely destroyed by the fire. At least two persons were killed, 16 more were injured, three of which severely. The hospital declared stage 3 MCI, and subsequently several hundred staff members joined up. They were supported by 565 members of fire brigade and police from the whole Ruhr region, as well as Technisches Hilfswerk and emergency management forces of the state North Rhine-Westphalia. 126 persons could be rescued from building 1 and taken care of within the hospital. Subsequently, several functional areas and six wards with a total of 204 beds had to be put out of operation. Even after several days the fire brigades had to extinguish remaining fire pockets.
The fire resulted from arson committed by a patient, who was subsequently killed by the fire.

Facts and figures

Departments, centers and programs (overview)