EIT Health expands to Finland as Helsinki University Hospital becomes partner

Finland's largest healthcare provider

EIT Health expanded its network into Finland as it welcomed Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) as a new Partner from 1 January 2021. HUS’s membership means that EIT Health Scandinavia now contains the top three regions in the EU’s 2019 list of most innovative regions: Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; and Hovedstaden, Denmark.

HUS is Finland’s largest hospital district, the country’s largest healthcare provider and the second largest employer in Finland, with about 680,000 patients receiving medical care annually. HUS is recognised as managing the most demanding specialist medical care in Finland, and it has nationwide responsibility to provide centralised care for many rare and severe diseases. HUS has excellent resources to strengthen the EIT Health network, including the largest cancer treatment centre in Finland, and a significant clinical trial unit.

HUS and its Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Clinical Trial Unit, will benefit  from becoming part of a larger network, so that they can find partners and intensify international cooperation. Membership in EIT Health opens new opportunities for business collaboration, both in terms of new clinical trials and translational projects, while enhancing possibilities to seek funding for research projects within the wider Horizon Europe programme.

We are very excited to join EIT Health and have the opportunity to collaborate within their innovative network of experts, 

says Katriina Peltola, the Head Physician in the Clinical Trial Unit, HUS Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) is a fantastic addition to the EIT Health network and will be an ideal partner for highly innovative projects as well as clinical trials, 

says Erik Forsberg, Managing Director of EIT Health Scandinavia.

Today approximately 50% of the healthcare providers are represented in our Scandinavian network (Sweden, Denmark and Estonia). With HUS as an associate partner, the Scandinavian partnership is strengthened further, covering a significant part of the Finnish healthcare providers.

Erik Forsberg also notes the value that HUS brings through their participation in the Finnish National Cancer Center (FICAN), Helsinki Biobank and the large-scale research collaboration FinnGen, where the private sector is also significantly involved.

Accessing and interpreting data to improve healthcare is key for improving our healthcare systems and patient outcomes, and Finland has exceptional conditions for research using genomic and health register data, 

says Forsberg.