The City of Brussels and Etterbeek have approved the merger of Brussels hospitals. This still needs to be endorsed by the ULB's board of directors as well as by the other municipalities concerned. But for the City of Brussels and Etterbeek, the decision has now been made.
This week, the City of Brussels and Etterbeek approved the merger of five major public hospital institutions, which from 1 January 2027 would form the second-largest hospital group in Belgium. “For over 200 years, our institution and its predecessors have helped to build and develop Brussels' public hospitals. This historic responsibility obliges us to prepare for their future and ensure their development for the benefit of all Brussels residents. Our ambition is clear: to secure the future of our public hospitals, improve the quality of care and regain the means to invest, without placing the burden of financial recovery on patients or taxpayers,” stressed David Weytsman, chairman of the CPAS of the City of Brussels.
The project aims to bring together Erasme, the Institut Jules Bordet, the Queen Fabiola Children's University Hospital, the CHU Saint-Pierre and the Iris Sud Hospitals within the new University Hospitals of Brussels. With 2,500 beds spread across 12 sites and a consolidated turnover of €1.5 billion, this new group would be the second-largest hospital group in Belgium, after Antwerp's ZAS.
Vincent Dewolf, Mayor of Etterbeek: “This coming together of public hospitals is an issue that goes beyond political divides. It is about taking responsibility to secure the future of our hospital institutions and to defend a public service that is essential to all Brussels residents. In Etterbeek, this conviction is shared by all the political groups represented on the municipal council, who unanimously approved the project on 12 October.”
The aim is therefore medical, organisational and financial. The merger should enable better coordination of care, strengthen collaboration between institutions and develop research and innovation, while preserving access to local care. Certain specialised activities could be organised in shared reference centres, where concentrating them improves the quality of care and justifies the necessary investments.
Financially, the expected savings are mainly based on the pooling of purchasing, IT, human resources, logistics, pharmacy, billing and financial management. For David Weytsman, this streamlining should help strengthen public hospitals on a lasting basis, while preserving the resources needed for the CPAS's other social missions.