University Hospital Erlangen is one of the best specialised clinics in the country. It ranks 15 out of 1,170 medical facilities, according to the FOCUS magazine.
Erlangen University Hospital was founded in 1815. It is located in the south of Germany and is considered a medical valley due to a large number of departments and centres.
The hospital cooperates with partners from scientific, economical, political and medical equipment companies. This partnership helps Erlangen Clinic to achieve international leadership in healthcare and advanced medical technology.
The Erlangen Medical Complex has 24 clinics, 19 independent departments and 7 institutes covering every area of modern medicine.
The buildings of the university hospital are mainly located in the city centre near the palace garden and have over 1,300 beds. More than 7,500 medical staff work here, which ensures optimal care for each patient.
Patients have access to single and double rooms as well as wards of superior comfort. Each room is equipped with a bathroom, a special bed, a wardrobe, a bedside table and a table with chairs. In many wards, the patient can watch TV and use wi-fi.
The Erlangen University Hospital has a pharmacy with a laboratory where patients can order their own medicine. The medications that are produced in this pharmacy meet all international quality and safety standards.
The cafeteria of the Erlangen University Hospital offers about 5,000 meals every day. Here, patients can choose a meal that combines excellent taste with all the necessary vitamins. The clinic’s menu has won many awards, including a prize in the ESSEN PRO GESUNDHEIT competition. The competition was organised by the Ministry of Environment, Health and Consumer Protection.
The neurological department of the Erlangen Clinic is one of the largest in Germany. Over 7,000 patients are treated there every year. Also, the Department of Neurology works closely with the Departments of Neurosurgery and Neuroradiology.
Also, the department is accredited by the German Society for Orthopaedics and Orthopaedic Surgery has an EndoCert certificate and successfully undergoes annual follow-up examinations. This means that patients receive an arranged system of examination, consultation and treatment. In doing so, doctors always consider the personal situation of the patient. To assess the necessary treatment measures, orthopaedic traumatologists cooperate with doctors in other specialities, such as physiotherapy and rehabilitation.
The Neurology Department offers special outpatient clinics for therapy of:
The stroke units, intensive care for seriously ill patients and epilepsy centre deserve special attention. Also thanks to molecular neurology, a new department was created in 2008, which combines basic research with clinical experience. This makes it possible to treat patients at the highest level by applying the latest developments in medicine. The department has a quality management system and has been certified according to DIN EN ISO (since 2000).
University Hospital Erlangen cooperates with Siemens Healthiness. This allows new equipment to be adapted to the needs of doctors and patients. For example, one of the Erlangen doctors, Arnd Dörfler, Head of Neuroradiology, was involved in the development of a new ultra-high field MRI machine. With such a device you can see minor changes in the body, even at the metabolic level.
The Erlangen Neurosurgery Department is considered one of the largest in Germany. The clinic performs more than 2,500 operations annually.
It treats all neurosurgical pathologies, injuries, inflammations, tumours and malformations of the brain, spinal cord and spine. The neurosurgical department has 78 beds, 14 of which are in the intensive care unit.
There’s also an intensive care unit in the ward. Neurosurgical patients with diseases or injuries of the nervous system, acute spinal injuries, craniocerebral injuries and acute cerebral haemorrhages are referred here.
The neurosurgery department has 4 modern operating rooms with high-precision microscopes, the latest neuronavigation and 1.5 Tesla MRI to control the course of the operation.
If the person has doubts about the diagnosis or wants to clarify the need for neurosurgical treatment, they can ask for a second opinion service or make an appointment online. During the online consultation, the doctor explains the possible treatment options, as well as determines its urgency and possible alternatives to surgery.
Cancer patients get a fast and accurate diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care. The clinic has narrowly focused departments, which deal with the treatment of certain oncological diseases:
All types of cancer treatment are available in oncology departments: chemotherapy and radiation therapy, surgical removal of neoplasms, immuno- and targeted therapy. In addition to basic treatment, the clinic provides psychological support, nutritional advice and organizes self-help groups. Also, the oncology departments are audited annually by the DKG (German Cancer Society).
| Chemotherapy |
| Oncologist consultation |
| Personal medication selection |
| Separate boxes for courses |
| Side effects reduction |
| Radiotherapy |
| Oncologist consultation |
| MRI diagnostics |
| 360° motion control accelerator |
| Side effects reduction |
The cancer centres at the Erlangen Clinic are constantly updating their equipment. Thus, a new spiral imaging CT scanner has been installed in the Franconian Breast Department. A CT scanner like this ensures high image quality, with a lower dose of radiation.
The new procedure has become noticeably more pleasant for the patients because there is no chest squeeze when performing it. During the examination, the breast is in a special recess of the device and is fully scanned in a spiral within a few seconds.
For surgical treatment of oncological diseases, the clinic often uses the Da Vinci robot. For example, it is used to remove the prostate gland, colon growths (especially in sigma and rectum) and tumours in the oral cavity. Da Vinci unit is also used for interventions on the kidneys and adrenals, renal pelvis, ureter and bladder. Using the device helps speed up the rehabilitation process and make it less painful.
Interesting fact: It was Erlangen University Hospital that developed a fundamentally new method of brain tumour removal – DIVA surgery. Its essence is to control the intervention with the help of fluorescent imaging of the tumour and MRI machine. The uniqueness of this method is that it allows doctors to accurately separate tumour tissue from healthy tumours while maintaining important brain functions. Such an operation requires serious training of doctors and the latest navigation system installations. In this case, the intervention significantly increases the chances of removing tumour cells, even in brain regions with difficult access.
At the Erlangen University Hospital, organs and tissues transplants can be performed on adults and children. The department works with the German Organ Transplantation Foundation and the Eurotransplant agency, which gives access to a donor database. Here, doctors transplant:
During the whole period of its existence (since 1966) doctors have transplanted more than 3,300 kidneys, 215 hearts, 343 livers and performed 106 pancreatic transplantations. The department also performed more than 1,450 stem cell transplantation procedures and 11,898 corneal transplantations.
Since 2011, specialists at the Erlangen University Hospital have been performing not only autologous (own stem cells) and allogeneic (stem cells from a suitable donor) transplants, but also cord blood transfusions.
The most innovative method is haploid stem cell transplantation. The latter can be used to create individual cell cultures, which are essential for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. Haploid cells can also be used to treat blindness or other diseases in which some tissues die or degenerate. Thanks to a single set of chromosomes, such cells can also be used to treat reproductive diseases such as infertility.
The Department of Traumatology and Orthopaedics at the Erlangen University Hospital is headed by Professor Mario Pearl. Here, all injuries and degenerative disorders of the musculoskeletal system can be treated with surgical and conservative therapy. Trauma doctors treat about 20,000 patients annually and perform more than 3,000 surgical procedures. Among them:
The medical team of the Orthopedics Department has extensive experience in treating professional athletes. The clinic cooperates with the Institute of Sports Science FAU Erlangen-Nüremberg and provides medical services to the teams of the Greuther Fürth game association and teams of other sports clubs in the region. Also, the department is accredited by the German Society for Orthopedics and Orthopedic Surgery has an EndoCert certificate and successfully undergoes annual follow-up examinations. This means that patients receive an arranged system of examination, consultation and treatment. In doing so, doctors always consider the personal situation of the patient. To assess the necessary treatment measures, orthopaedic traumatologists cooperate with doctors in other specialities, such as physiotherapy and rehabilitation.
In the Department of Child and Adolescent Medicine at the University Hospital Erlangen, doctors have been taking care of young patients who suffer from a wide range of diseases for over 100 years. There are an outpatient clinic and a children’s hospital. The department provides 24-hour care for premature and newborn babies as well as children and adolescents of all ages. They offer optimal treatment strategies and make the stay at the clinic as short and pleasant as possible for patients and their families.
The children’s clinic assists in such areas as surgery, cardiac surgery, cardiology, molecular paediatrics, neonatology, oncology and haematology. Families with children who suffer from endocrine pathologies, neurological disorders, developmental defects, as well as for epilepsy and cystic fibrosis also come here.
It is an important fact that doctors from the Department of Child and Adolescent Medicine participate in scientific research on new diagnostic and treatment methods. In 2019, Ferdinand Knieling, a doctor from the department, received the prestigious Adalbert Czerny award for his contribution to the creation of a new diagnostic method in paediatrics.
He developed an alternative biopsy – a procedure, that causes fear in many children. The method is based on visualization with light and sound, which provide comprehensive information on the composition of the affected tissue. It is not necessary to make incisions and take a sample of the child’s tissue.
| Procedure | Cost |
| Consultation with a specialist | from €500 |
| Laboratory tests | from €350 |
| Mammary gland ultrasound | from €350 |
| MRI | from €1,000 |
| PET-CT | from €1,500 |
| Chemotherapy | from €2,500 per session |
| Radiation Therapy | from €6,000 per course |
| Procedure | Cost |
| Immunotherapy | from €6,000 |
| Knee arthroscopy | from €7,000 |
| Shoulder replacement | from €11,000 |
| Mastectomy | from €13,000 |
| Hip arthroplasty | from €18,000 |
| Knee replacement | from €19,000 |
| Surgical removal of the tumour | from €20,000 |
