Prof. Dr. med. Eckard H. Hamelmann

The University Children's Hospital in Bochum, located in the heart of the Ruhr valley, is responsible for the allencompassing care of children and adolescents from the first day of life to their attaining adulthood. To this end, we have a casualty department, four pediatric wards, an interdisciplinary intensive care ward, and our neonatal intensive care ward, as part of the perinatal center.

The Clinic has 90 beds available in wards. Every year, it takes care of about 4,000 in-patients and approx. 25,000 outpatients. In addition to basic pediatric medical care,we focus principally on promoting the health of children and young people with more severe diseases.
In this respect, our attention is especially directed toward chronically sick children and young people, whom we treat and advise not only with our medical expertise, but also with a comprehensive team of therapists, psychologists and other professionals. These special focuses are represented in the different departments of the Pediatric Clinic:

• Allergology/Pneumology/Immunology
• Gastroenterology/Hepatology
• Diabetology/Endocrinology
• Neonatology/Intensive care
• Neuropediatrics

Together with other clinics of Ruhr University, the Children's Hospital has recently founded the Allergy Center of the Ruhr (ACR) and is integrated in the Ruhr Valley Muscle Center. These are centers of expertise for the corresponding areas. The focus on pneumology is represented by the certified Center for Cystic Fibrosis/Mucoviscidosis.

As a clinic of the Ruhr University of Bochum, we are also responsible for lecturing and training in the professional subject of pediatrics and we actively participate in clinical and basic research in the different subspecialities of pediatrics.We make use of this current scientific know-how for the best possible care of our patients.

On the 25th November, 2005, the Children's Hospital celebrated its 80th anniversary. The Clinic has been directed by Prof. Dr. med. Eckard Hamelmann since April 2008.