The management committee of UZ Leuven nominated Professor Herijgers as a candidate to the Board of Directors and the Board of Directors of KU Leuven. The Board of Directors has accepted the nomination and appointed Professor Herijgers as managing director for an initial period of five years.
Professor Luc Sels, Rector KU Leuven: “UZ Leuven is one of Europe’s leading hospitals, but also a house of training, research and innovation. It is partly its university embedding that allows UZ Leuven to continuously push boundaries and draw the outlines of tomorrow’s clinical care. Paul Herijgers knows both worlds very well. As a heart surgeon, he has been at home at UZ Leuven for a career, and after an excellent career as dean of the Faculty of Medicine, he is also well familiar with the education and research of KU Leuven. He is the right person to take UZ Leuven to an even higher level.”
Prof. Dr. Wim Robberecht, current managing director of UZ Leuven: “Being able to take on a role in leading a wonderful hospital like UZ Leuven is a wonderful and challenging assignment. Our hospital’s mission, pushing boundaries together, means that we want to care for the patients of today and those of tomorrow. This requires the combination of excellent care, research and education. Professor Paul Herijgers can rely on his experience as a renowned surgeon in our hospital and as a passionate dean of the faculty of medicine. He is therefore ideally placed to take on the task of managing director. I wish him every success and am convinced that he can count on the support of all 10,000 passionate employees of UZ Leuven.”
Prof. Dr. Paul Herijgers, future managing director of UZ Leuven: “First and foremost I would like to thank everyone for their trust. I very much believe in a bright future for UZ Leuven within the large KU Leuven family. The enormous commitment and expertise of the more than 10,000 employees in the hospital are impressive. Our hospital provides excellent care, even for the most complex conditions, with great attention to the patient as a person. In addition, we want to prepare the healthcare of tomorrow through training, research and innovation. UZ Leuven will assume its social role by working constructively with many actors in Flanders, Belgium and internationally. Together we will succeed in adapting and finding solutions to the health challenges of the future, so that we can guarantee the added value of UZ Leuven in the future.”
