Interview with EUHA President Stefan Sleijfer

Prof Dr Stefan Sleijfer, Chair of the Executive Board of Erasmus MC, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and EUHA President for the first term of 2025.

Prof Dr S. (Stefan) Sleijfer Stefan Sleijfer is chairman of the Executive Board of Erasmus MC and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Prof Sleijfer completed his medical education at the University of Groningen and later received his doctorate from the same institution. After completing his training as an internist-oncologist in 2004, he has been working as an internist-oncologist at the Erasmus MC. He was appointed as a professor in 2011 and department head in 2013. In 2017 he also became theme chair of Daniel den Hoed. He is the President of the European University Hospital Alliance for the first term of 2025.

Interview with EUHA President Stefan Sleijfer

How do you see the future role of large university hospitals in national and European healthcare systems?

One of the drivers for collaborating in EUHA is that we see that healthcare systems in Europe – besides being different – are facing similar challenges. One of them is a shortage of workforce that is emerging in European countries. It is already hard to find specialized personnel for some positions in healthcare and support departments. This means we have to think of ways to keep the healthcare sector attractive to work in and to focus on the core of our activities in prevention, patient care, research and education.
At the same time, there is a growing demand for healthcare caused by aging populations in Europe, but also by progress in healthcare, creating more possibilities for diagnosis and treatment. Of course, this is what we want, but both these developments lead to more pressure on our health care systems and to higher costs of healthcare in European countries.

University hospitals can take the lead in addressing these challenges by applying their innovative capacities. Apart from being hospitals where practical innovations are taking place, research plays an important role in rethinking healthcare, while at the same time, we are educating new generations of professionals.

University hospitals can take the lead in addressing these challenges by applying their innovative capacities. Apart from being hospitals where practical innovations are taking place, research plays an important role in rethinking healthcare, while at the same time we are educating new generations of professionals.

Stefan Sleijfer

What do you see as the biggest opportunities and challenges for EUHA in the coming years?

There are huge challenges. An effect of aging populations is that patients in general will havea more complex demand for care. In order to deliver this, we will have to make use of technology, such as AI and robotics. While doing so, we will have to keep in mind the human scale of health care, in which the relation between the citizen or patient and the healthcare provider is central.

At the same time, new challenges arise from developments on our planet and in society, such as newly emerging diseases and the effects of climate change and environmental pollution. This highlights the fact that we must consider the ecological footprint of healthcare itself and make it more sustainable.

EUHA, as a consortium of 11 of the largest university hospitals in Europe, brings great opportunities to address these challenges. All EUHA members are playing in the top league of medical research an innovation. Collaboration in these fields can have enormous impact. Think of large scale studies into the effectivity of expensive drugs or development of AI driven solutions to support medical decision making. Together we can really make a difference there. Another opportunity is to compare best practices in a broad range of fields, from nursing to strategic purchasing.

Last but not least, by representing its members in policy arenas EUHA gives us a voice towards national and European policymakers and industries.

EUHA gives us a voice towards national and European policymakers and industries.

Stefan Sleijfer

What are the key priorities of the Erasmus MC EUHA presidency?

For Erasmus MC it is an honor to be president of EUHA and work closely with San Raffaele as former president and Aarhus University Hospital as incoming president in addressing some of the most pressing challenges. One of the strategic aims of Erasmus MC is to become a ‘technological university hospital’. For that reason we have built a strategic partnership with Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University Rotterdam, which we call Convergence. We think this is instrumental for working towards a healthcare system that applies progress in biomedical science and technology for prevention and patient centered care in a way that is sustainable both from an economic and planetary perspective.

What are you most looking forward to at the EUHA Members’ Assembly in Rotterdam?

During the Erasmus MC Presidency of EUHA, I have been impressed by the energy and dynamics within the alliance. A great deal of work is being carried out across existing Working Groups and Networks, such as the Digital Health and Data Network, the Nursing Network, the EUCCAT Working Group (European Centre for Gene and Cellular Therapies), the Learning in Value Working Group (focused on value-based healthcare), and the Innovation Network — all of which will be meeting in Rotterdam next week.

In addition, new initiatives are being launched in the areas of Human Resources, Medical Education, Communications, and Medical and In-Vitro Diagnostic Devices. The result is that there will be a lot of satellite events going on.