The European University Hospitals Alliance (EUHA) is a strategic alliance of 9 leading European University hospitals, which have a capacity of more than 1000 beds and which provide advanced and specialized healthcare in most clinical specialties. All of them are national and international centers of reference with centers of excellence in research. Overall, they account for 100% of the existing European reference networks (ERN). 

Promoted by the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm (Sweden) the Alliance was founded in 2017, and includes the following entities:

• Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux in Paris (AP-HP) (France)
• Charité Universitatsmedizin in Berlin (Germany)
• Erasmus MC in Rotterdam (the Netherlands)
• Ospedale San Raffaele in Milan (Italy)
• King's Health Partners in London (United Kingdom)
• UZ Leuven in Leuven (Belgium) 
• AKH Wien & MedUni Wien in Vienna (Austria)

The research, education, innovation and transfer of knowledge hold a significant place in its present and future strategy, it being the general objective of its members to play an active role in the configuration of the future of European healthcare, all sharing the best practices for patient benefit and maximising efforts to motivate high-quality research. 

As established in the alliance’s new strategic plan, the EUHA intends to build a network of sustainable health ecosystems to achieve the best results with the available resources, undertaking the role of adviser with influence at a European level which will allow it to lead the development of innovative solutions to health and healthcare challenges at a European level, focusing on academic medicine and ensuring that the solution has a real impact on society.

The Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, the participation of which was officially approved by the Health Department of the Generalitat of Catalonia in October 2020, coordinates the Research pillar of the alliance, one of the three pillars together with that of Healthcare and of Strategy and Management.

Vall d’Hebron University Hospital’s participation in the EUHA is beneficial for different reasons:

• It allows our professionals to work together with the best university hospitals in Europe and share best practices in different areas (management, health care, teaching and research).
• It allows us to establish partnerships and synergies of high value within the European area.
• It gives us the opportunity to have an active role in the European strategic agenda, therefore the ability to participate in the discussion of healthcare policies and the financing of health research at European level.